


seems like a good day to fall in love

by vands88



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst, Ark School, Arranged Marriage, Asexual Character, Ballroom Dancing, Bodyswap, Challenges, Dance movie AU, Dancing, Doctors & Physicians, Drabble Collection, Drunkenness, Edge of Tomorrow AU, Episode Related, Episode: s02e10 Survival of the Fittest, Episode: s02e12 Rubicon, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family Feels, Firefighters, Fix-It, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Mount Weather, On The Ark, Police, Post-Episode: s02e12 Rubicon, Prison, Science Girlfriends, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles, Soulmates, Spring Equinox, Students, Teacher AU, Trigedasleng, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, Wordcount: 100-1.000, the100femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 01:43:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 27,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3272117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vands88/pseuds/vands88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the ficlets I wrote for the-100-femslash fic challenge + bonus requests/sequels</p><p>content warnings at beginning of each ficlet</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Role Reversal - Clarke/Raven

**Author's Note:**

> life-dependent, I'm hoping to write everything on [the list](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/109803076186/the-100-femslash-do-you-write-fics-do-you-love), I'll be posting both here and on [tumblr](http://vands88.tumblr.com/tagged/the100femslash). I'm happy to take suggestions if you have any ideas for future fills.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke/Raven
> 
> cw: needles

Raven’s hands shake as she picks up the needle. “I seriously can’t believe I’m doing this…”

"You have the steadiest hands on this mission, Raven," Clarke insists.

Raven raises her hand so Clarke can witness the shaking. “Not right now I’m not.”

"You’re doing fine."

"I’m not doing fine. I’m about to throw up."

” _You’re_  about to throw up?”

Raven breathes out slowly. “Fine.” She lifts up Clarke’s bleeding hand and holds it between hers. “I’m fine, I’m fine…” she mutters.

"Not helping," Clarke says.

"Then do it yourself!" Raven cries, dropping Clarke’s hand again.

"I can’t with one hand! Come on, we’ve been over this. We’ve practised - "

"On  _cloth_.”

"You can do this." Clarke reaches out with her uninjured hand to squeeze Raven’s shoulder. "I trust you. You can do this."

Raven meets her gaze, and nods once, confidently. “You’re damn right I can do this. My stitching on that cloth was damn near perfect.”

Clarke laughs and holds out her hand once more. This time Raven takes it with the confidence she’d expect. “Then I expect to be perfect too.”

"You already are," Raven whispers. 

Clarke doesn’t feel the first prick of the needle over the sight of Raven Reyes blushing.


	2. Apocalypse/Dystopian AU - Clarke/Octavia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edge of Tomorrow AU
> 
> Clarke/Octavia 
> 
> cw: death, blood, gore

You wake to the same sight that you do every morning. You have repeated this day so often that even the shouting officer no longer startles you. You follow the routine - the one that you knows works - mindlessly, until it is at last time to meet her again: Clarke Griffin.

You had made good progress in the last attempt. Clarke died just as you were escaping the beach, from a rogue grenade this time. The blast wasn’t enough for a quick death. Clarke shouted at you to continue, even while she was bleeding out on the ground, but luckily, a Mimic found you not a moment later. You don’t like the attempts where you have to watch Clarke die, but it happens more than you like to think about. A hundred times, maybe. Today, you will try leaving the beach two steps to the left, it should be enough to miss the grenade.

You know the spins of the drones and avoid them easily as you approach Clarke. You watch the way Clarke’s body ripples as she leans up from her balanced position on the floor, and asks, just as she does everyday: “Yes. What do you want?”

There’s a twist in your stomach. The sign that you’re starting to care. (Although, that’s a lie; you have always cared, but now you are too tired to lie to yourself about it). You are in love with Clarke Griffin. But every day, it is the first time that Clarke Griffin has met you. 

It would drive anyone to madness.

Just once, you would like to take Clarke somewhere safe. (Is there anywhere safe?) Not into battle and to your deaths, but somewhere… away from here. _What do you want?_ she asks and you have limitless and impossible answers to give her:  _A day off. To keep you safe. To kiss you. Just once. So I can know what it feels like to touch you when you’re not dying._

You open your mouth, but the practised words do not come easily today. 

Clarke must see something in your hesitation. She rises. She won’t put the words to it though, you know this, because you’ve played this game before. Clarke is always too afraid to make the conclusion. You need to give it to her. You do. You recite the same spiel that you do every time. 

"How many times?" she asks.

You don’t know. You’ve lost count. You’ve actually lost count. How many times have you lived through this day? Eternity. 

"You can’t lose faith," she orders. (Every word she speaks is an order.)

 _I can’t lose **you**_ , you think, but she can’t know. If she knew how many times you have failed because you couldn’t watch her die, she would resent you for it. You feel like a stalker; knowing her so intimately, while she knows nothing about you. But a person shows their soul to you when they die and you must have seen her soul a hundred times.

You take a deep breath. She needs to hear it. She needs to hear that you can do this again, and again, and again, and again… 

"I know," you say, because for as long as Clarke Griffin needs you, you will live and die and repeat for eternity.


	3. Locked In - Abby/Indra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Abby/Indra

The Ark is a rusting crap pile of ancient technology and misplaced hope. 

Before now, Abby would never have admitted such a thing, but now, with a large beam and debris wedged in the corridor blocking her exit, it seems about time to admit that something that has been fired from Earth, clunked around in orbit for a century, and then came crashing back to the Ground, is not going to be architecturally stable. 

Luckily, no one is seriously hurt, but unluckily, Abby is trapped with a pissed Grounder leader. The collapse happened just after a meeting with the Grounders. Maybe if she hadn't stayed behind to speak to Indra about Octavia, they might all be on the other side of the debris. 

Abby sits in the meeting room, listening to the distant sounds of her men trying to clear the corridor and the mutterings of Indra as she curses the Sky people. 

"It's not like I want to be here either," Abby says. "I have patients to tend to."

"And I have soldiers to train," Indra sneers.

"Right. Well, you're not going to be able to leave any sooner by pacing. You might as well sit down."

"You are right. We should be digging our way out our bare hands."

Abby sighs. "If the collapse isn't handled carefully, it could get worse. It's safer to operate from one side; the side with tools where they can control it. My men know what they're doing."

"I highly doubt that," Indra says. But she sits down, and Abby counts that as a small victory. "This place unsettles me. Why do you live under metal and not stars?"

"It's all we've ever known. I think we'd find sleeping in the forest as unsettling as you would find sleeping here - at least, at first. I'm hoping my people will venture further in time. There is so much to see here." She smiles, "the Earth is a beautiful place."

"You are naive if you believe that."

"You don't think there's beauty here? I know you're a warrior but - "

"There is a waterfall to the west of here," Indra says, "It stretches wide and falls deep. The birds gather. It is... beautiful. Peaceful, so we thought. We made camp. But there are eyes in the rocks. Half of us were dead by morning, including my child. Beauty is something only a fool sees."

Abby watches Indra as she looks at the floor distrustfully. She thinks she's starting to understand a little of the differences between them. 

"Then maybe I'm a fool," Abby says. 

Indra huffs. It's as close to a laugh as Abby is probably ever going to get. "There is a little fool in all of us." 

Abby gives a shrug in amused agreement. That's probably very true, especially as, the longer that they talk and the more that Indra opens up, the crap pile of the Ark seems to become a little more beautiful.


	4. Secret Relationship - Clarke/Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke/Raven
> 
> Canonical AU on the Ark. Inspired by [this gif set](http://emmaofmisthaven.tumblr.com/post/109814318102). I was planning on writing Lexa/Anya for today’s prompt but then this came up on my dash and I couldn’t not, y’know? #sorrynotsorry
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110092593861/4-secret-relationship)

The first time Raven finds herself pushing Clarke against a closet door and kissing her until she’s breathless, she convinces herself that she’s just  _pissed_. 

They’re a year apart in the shoddy educational system that the Ark calls “school”, so never before has Raven had the experience of being in the same classroom as Clarke. She’s heard rumours, of course, about the doctor’s daughter’s perfect record, but it’s something else to actually experience just how  _insufferable_ Clarke is. Whoever thought of putting her in Advanced Sciences was an idiot; she’s polluting the whole class with her shiny optimism and naivety, and so really, Raven should be thanked for pulling her to one side after class and telling her that she should probably stick to drawing pretty pictures. 

Clarke doesn’t take it well. 

They argue and argue until Raven realises they’ve carried their argument to an out of bounds corridor and there’s the sound of boots heading their way. Clarke pulls her into a supply closet to hide (something that Raven would totally have done if Clarke had given her the chance) and then they’re standing toe-to-toe, exchanging oxygen in the tiny space, and Raven can feel her chest heaving from the argument and from their close call, and Clarke is just opposite her looking  _so damn annoying_. Clarke opens her mouth to say something, no doubt something boringly moral, and Raven doesn’t want to hear it, so she kisses her instead. 

That’s how it starts, but neither of them can answer why it keeps happening. Sometimes they don’t even argue first, one will just storm out of the classroom and be waiting outside a closet door minutes afterwards. Sometimes it happens at the weekend; stolen kisses behind market stalls and fooling around in locker rooms.

It’s good. It’s so good, but it’s not enough. 

Raven pulls back from the kiss, keeping Clarke’s bottom lip between her teeth until Clarke whines. Clarke always complains about Raven’s teasing. Raven smirks and steps back, tucking a stray blonde curl behind Clarke’s ear. 

"The masquerade ball is soon," Raven says, "Come with me?"

Clarke laughs. “You realise the masks don’t actually hide much, right? Everyone will know it’s us.”

"Yeah," Raven says, "that’s the point."

"Oh." 

Raven tries not to let Clarke’s dejection get to her, so she shrugs it off, “Or not, whatever, I don’t care - “

"Raven," she says, stopping her from leaving with a hand on her arm, "you know I can’t."

"Can’t what? Let the boys know you’re off the market?"

"Is that what I am?" Clarke asks. 

Raven cringes. “That’s not what I meant, I just - “

"My mom thinks you’re a bad influence," Clarke interrupts. 

It stops Raven short. “What?”

"She thinks you’re stubborn and foolhardy and - "

"Oh, come on! Is she seriously still pissed about that one time I stole a syringe?"

Clarke raises an eyebrow.

"It was necessary," Raven defends. 

"Necessary?" Clarke asks, folding her arms. It’s an uncomfortably good imitation of her mother. 

"Yeah, for…" Raven waves her hand, "experiments." 

Clarke doesn’t look convinced.

"Necessary," Raven confirms.

Clarke shakes her head with a laugh. “Sure.”

Somewhere along the lines, Raven fell for that smile. It’s beautiful, and still stupidly bright, like Raven hasn’t even tarnished her optimism. 

Raven sighs. “So that’s why?”

Clarke nods.

"Okay."

"Okay, what?" Clarke asks.

"I’ll work on winning her over."

Clarke grins and pulls Raven back down for a kiss. Raven smiles into it and tugs her closer. One day, she’ll take Clarke somewhere nicer than a closet: a dance, a space walk, a bed,  _the Ground_ … 

 _Yeah_ , Raven thinks,  _I’d like to see what that smile looks like on the Ground_. 


	5. Bodyswap - Clarke/Lexa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke/Lexa
> 
> cw: a lot of cussing 
> 
> a/n: because we haven’t been told otherwise, my headcanon is that the dropship kids still sleep in tents at Camp Jaha (whereas the adults sleep in the remains of the Ark) because it’s what they find most comfortable. when canon proves me otherwise I will be very disappointed, but for now, it is the fanon in all my fics, including this one, ‘k?
> 
> (also this started off very silly and ended up very sappy, so just a head’s up on that)
> 
>  
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110188353926/5-bodyswap)

Clarke wakes up in Lexa’s bed, and several theories occur to her:

a) this is a very good dream

b) this is a very, very, good reality

c) this is a very  _shit_  reality in which she is probably bleeding out, or hallucinating from dehydration, or is being kept here as a prisoner, or, or, or… 

Considering her life on the Ground so far, c) seems like the most logical option.

-

Lexa wakes up in Clarke’s bed with a curse on her lips. 

She knows exactly what has happened and has come to the very logical conclusion that the gods are all complete  _bastards_. 

If one heartbreak was not enough for her, they curse her with another. She does not want another soulmate. She does not want to go through this experience again - to know another so well, to inhabit their body, to break the spell with a kiss, and then to love them until their dying breath - she does not want it because she knows that the dying breath will come all too soon. She is not ready to undertake this task again.

A woman is shouting outside, and after a moment, Lexa realises it is for her… or, rather, for Clarke. “What?” she snaps.

A girl pokes her head through the canvas gap in the curtain. She knows her… Clarke’s friend, the mechanic, the one who also loved the one they named Finn. _Raven_ ; that’s her name. “I thought I heard you scream,” she says, “Are you okay?”

Lexa frowns. Is she not always ‘okay’? “Yes,” she says. “What do you want?”

Raven looks confused by the question. “Nothing… I was just… never mind,” she says, and ducks back out of the tent.

Lexa doesn’t waste time analysing her behaviour, instead, she rises and dresses, determined to fix this hideous mistake before her people realise what has happened. And if her eyes stray while dressing, then it is only natural curiosity. 

-

Clarke looks down at the hands that are definitely not her own, and feels her face, reaches out to pull at the hair only to find brunette instead of blonde. She may be freaking out a little. But this is impossible, right? She lifts herself out of bed and almost falls over her own feet in her haste to cover herself up again. 

So… Lexa sleeps naked. 

_Fuck._

She takes a deep breath and opens the blanket again to see the body that is definitely not hers; too tan, too lean, too much like a warrior’s; and knows that the impossible has definitely happened: she is in Lexa’s body, and she probably should stop looking, stop thinking… 

 _Are you here too?_  she asks her head, but there’s silence. So if her consciousness is here, then does that mean…?

Oh,  _fuck_.

"Commander?" asks a voice from outside.

Oh, fuck, fuck,  _fuck_. 

"Hang on!" she shouts back, and rapidly throws on the clothes that are prepared on the dresser. 

She steps outside and visible sees the guards around her take a step back. Is Lexa’s tent really always surrounded by guards? She really doesn’t trust much, does she?

"What’s wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing, Commander," says the nearest guard: a tall man with cropped hair that Clarke thinks is called Drumlin. "Quiet night. Nothing to report. Did you sleep well?"

"I…" Clarke begins, but stops as Drumlin twitches in fear. "Fine, thank you."

She sees a guard exchange a look with another. Right. Lexa probably doesn’t thank people. 

"If you excuse me, I have work to attend to," Clarke says in her most authoritative voice. 

Drumlin looks puzzled for a minute, as if he’s about to argue. Maybe Lexa had a normal morning routine that she’s not aware of. But his confusion is immediately tucked away with the straightening of his shoulders. “Yes, Commander. Do you require any assistance?”

"No. Thank you."

She walks away, and realises, too late, that their whole conversation had been in English. She winces. She glances back to see several bowed heads and picks up her pace. She needs to find Lexa… Clarke… Lexa as Clarke… whatever.

-

Lexa is stopped several times on her way to leaving Camp Jaha. Everyone seems to value Clarke’s opinion, clamouring after her with smiles and questions and asking favours. It baffles her how Clarke can cope with such chaos. Lexa must do something to offend them when she brushes them off because even Bellamy, Clarke’s soldier, looks puzzled by her dismissing him. Surely he must be used to following orders. How does Clarke organise her people otherwise?

Eventually, Lexa leaves, after insisting to at least three different people that she is perfectly capable of looking after herself. She sees their wary glances and hears their gossip, but it is irrelevant; once she finds Clarke and reverses the curse, Clarke can fix whatever damage she has caused, and hopefully the reverse is true. She dreads to think what someone could do with the power of exchange.

-

They meet on the well-trodden path between their camps, in a valley surrounded by trees. 

"Oh, thank god," Clarke exclaims when she sees her. "Do you know what’s happening?"

Lexa is baffled by her for a moment. Do Sky-people not have the soul exchange that they do? 

Clarke must read her confusion as something else. “I mean, it’s happening to you too, right? It’s not just me. Please tell me it’s not just me.”

"It’s not just you," Lexa confirms. "We have exchanged souls for a time. It is quick to reverse, and afterwards, we will make the necessary steps to sever our tie. It has been done before when pairings have been undesired."

This time, it is Clarke that is confused. “What?”

"This is how soulmates are decided. Or did you not experience this with Finn?"

"No, I - I don’t think my people have this. But wouldn’t Octavia have had this then? With Lincoln?"

"She did."

"But I - "

"You did not know because it is a very private affair. Each experience must be reported to the Commander but otherwise it is not to be shared. It’s said for strangers to know, is to curse them."

"Okay," Clarke says, her eyes darting back and forth, trying to process the information; it looks strange to see confusion on Lexa’s face. "So you’re saying we’re soulmates?"

"The gods seem to think so. Likely, they have recognised the strength our bond would bring to our forthcoming war. And that is all this need be."

"You don’t want…?"

"Do you?" Lexa asks with disbelief.

"I don’t…. I don’t know."

"Fine," Lexa says. "It is too soon for us both. I propose that we break the curse and decide after the war if we sever the tie or tend to it. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Clarke says.

Lexa takes a step forward. Clarke takes a step back in tandem. 

"What are you doing?" 

"I have to kiss you," Lexa states.

Clarke swallows her surprise. “Oh? Okay?”

Lexa steps forward again, and this time Clarke does not move. 

"You don’t have to be so serious about it," Clarke mutters. 

"And you don’t have to look so nervous," Lexa replies, before taking the last step into Clarke’s space. 

It’s strange kissing her own lips, but it is only for a second before she is transplanted back in her own body, and her eyelids flutter open to see Clarke opposite her, clinging on to Lexa’s coat as if she might fall otherwise. 

And if this only happens once, what is the harm in enjoying it?

Lexa deepens the kiss and reaches to pull Clarke closer, until her warmth is pressed against Lexa’s. 

She sighs into the kiss before breaking away; if she doesn’t leave now, she may never leave. 

"So that’s it?" Clarke asks. 

"Yes," Lexa says. She clears her throat to try and displace the sentiment lodged there. "That’s it." 

Lexa forces herself to retreat but something occurs to her two steps from Clarke. She turns back to see Clarke still in the same spot. “Your people,” Lexa begins, “they like you… but respect you. That must be difficult.”

"And yours fear you, but respect you. That must be difficult too."

Lexa had not thought of it that way before. “It is efficient.” 

"But lonely."

"Love is weakness."

"So you keep saying," Clarke smiles. "But it can also be strength. Love gives you trust and companionship and happiness, that respect cannot."

"Maybe," Lexa says. "In time, perhaps."

"Yeah," Clarke agrees, "In time."


	6. Ace Character - Maya/Harper (+ Miller)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was so excited to write this. I’m ace myself and figured I’d focus on two ladies we don’t see that much. Sadly though I don’t have much time to write tonight, but there was gonna be a scene with a flower that was hella cute… just imagine it instead, okay? Or maybe I’ll write a sequel later?
> 
>  
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110279414011/6-relationship-ft-an-ace-character)

Everyone assumes that Maya is interested in Jasper, and why wouldn’t she be? He’s nice and funny and a little silly… but he tries too hard, and there is a girl that catches her eye without trying at all. 

Her name is Harper and she’s the one who sits at the edge of group conversations and makes the occasional snide comment but mostly just listens and laughs. They’re both not very good at making conversation, so for a while that’s all it is, sitting in the same circle, laughing at the same jokes, but then one day Maya brings a chess board to the visitor’s dorm room. She makes the appearance of looking for Jasper to play with her, but she knows he’s still in the dining room with Monty, so it’s perfectly planned when she turns towards Harper with a dejected look.

Harper accepts with a small smile. They play, and without the pressure of constant conversation and eavesdropping friends, they can talk too. Maya learns that Harper used to be a gunner for their people. Maya learns that Harper doesn’t know if any of her family are still alive. Maya learns that Harper doesn’t like sex.

It happens because Miller leaves the dormitory with a smug comment about “getting some” and Harper whispers, “I will never understand that.”

"Miller?"

"No…" Harper says. She looks across at Maya, squinting as if trying to work out if she can trust Maya. "Sex."

There’s a silence afterwards, as if Harper is waiting for Maya to say something about it, to ask invasive questions, maybe, but Maya makes her move and then says, “That’s okay, some people don’t.”

Harper’s shoulders fall, relieved. Maya didn’t realise how wound up she must’ve been this whole time. “Thank you… I haven’t told many people. I only just worked it out to be honest… you have a book here that I found… it answered a lot of questions.”

"I’m glad," Maya says.

Harper catches her eye, smiles back shyly, and then makes a very distracted chess move that just lost her a knight and a pawn. Maya only takes the pawn. 

A couple of the boys come within hearing range and the change in Harper’s body language is immediate; aloof, but confident. 

"Maybe we could…" Maya whispers. "Later…"

She’s afraid to expand on what, especially while Jasper is still after her attention, but Harper seems to understand, or maybe just doesn’t mind either, as long as they see each other again. 

"I’d like that," she says, and then confidently puts Maya in checkmate. 


	7. Rivals to Lovers - Anya/Clarke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canonical AU in which it takes them longer to escape from Mount Weather and ANYA DOESN’T DIE BECAUSE DAMN YOU CRUEL WORLD
> 
> (very loose definition of “rival” here, as they’re more enemies, but I figure they’re both trying to capture each other so… yeah, let’s go with that)
> 
> also, totally doing the whole heat share trope thing because I’m a sucker for it
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110378391101/7-rivals-to-lovers)

Clarke is exhausted. They must have been running for hours. Once they lost the Mountain Men, Anya seemed to permit herself to go from a sprint to a jog, but they still had a long way to go. 

By the time they stop for the night, Clarke no longer knows who is who’s prisoner. They camp in the woods. They have no blankets and they don’t make a fire, not wanting to risk drawing attention. It’s cold, and the only food they have are a couple of apples that Clarke grabbed a mile back. She never thought she’d call a sheet of tarpaulin near the Dropship a luxury, until it begins to rain, and she longs for the sight of her tent. 

She folds herself against a tree, hoping that it will provide some shelter, but it only causes the rain fall heavier, if more sporadically. The moon is bright enough that she can make out the shape of Anya against a tree opposite her. 

"I ought to tie you to that tree," Anya says.

Clarke sighs. “I could do the same.” 

Surely, they are both too tired for this game. She would fight though, if Anya wanted to. 

Anya stands up, and for a moment, Clarke things that she is after a fight after all, but as Anya walks towards her, Clarke realises that that’s not what her body language is signalling at all. Anya pauses in front of her, and Clarke looks up through the raindrops in her eyelashes at the Woods Clan’s fearless leader.

Clarke nods minutely. Anya clenches her jaw. And then, not breaking eye contact, Anya comes to sit beside her. 

The body heat is welcome immediately, and she assumes that was Anya’s intention. They’re both smart enough to call a truce to survive the night. 

The arm from which Anya tore out her tracker is lying next to hers. “You really should let me look at - “

Anya pulls her arm away before Clarke can finish. “It’s fine.”

Clarke raises an eyebrow but doesn’t argue. 

"We’ll take watches," Anya says. "It’s safer that way. As long as you don’t betray me."

"I won’t betray you, Anya, we’re each other’s best hope of getting out of this, and together our people can take Mount Weather, I know it. I’m not going to hurt you."

Anya is silent for a minute, but it isn’t a denial of a potential future alliance, so Clarke takes it. “I will take first watch,” Anya says eventually. 

"Okay."

Neither of them move.

Anya turns to glare at Clarke. “That means you sleep.”

"I know," Clarke says. "I’m just finding it difficult when you’re glaring at me like that."

"Would you prefer it if I went away?"

"No!" Clarke says, a little too quickly. She’s surrounded by a dark forest with unknown eyes; anyone would be a little frightened, she assures herself. "Safety in numbers, you’re right, I’ll just - "

Anya examines her for a moment before turning back to the clearing. “Fine.”

Clarke closes her eyes and lets sleep take her, comforted by the feel of another body next to hers. 

She wakes later to a jostling of her shoulder. “Wha…?” she yawns. It takes her a minute to adjust to her surroundings before the sight of Anya’s scrutiny jolts her to full awareness. It must be her watch. 

Time ticks by slowly. Every sound in the dark forest sets her on edge. She becomes so paranoid that the sounds she was straining so hard to hear and blocked out by the sound of her own heartbeat . She sees things move in the darkness. She wriggles as close to Anya as she can and clutches a knife in her hand. She realises, after a while, that she has calmed, and has done so by looking at Anya. How peaceful she looks when she sleeps. She wonders how long has past. She doesn’t want to wake her. She needs more sleep due to the blood loss, Clarke reasons, so she won’t wake her. Not yet.

Dawn comes and Clarke’s eyes are fluttering shut just as Anya’s begin to open. Their heads have fallen together in the night, and it’s so easy to lean into the warmth and brush their lips together.

The sudden rush of intensity is enough to bring them both to their senses. They break apart. Anya brings a knife to Clarke’s throat. “What are you doing?” she asks.

"I… I don’t know," Clarke says truthfully. "It was a mistake, please, I - "

It must be a trick of the early light, because Anya looks hurt, before her expression is covered by her usual mask of indifference. 

"I didn’t mean - " Clarke tries again, "It’s not that I wouldn’t want that, with you, but I’d never if you didn’t want to, and I got the impression… you didn’t want to, so I’m sorry."

"I don’t trust you."

"I’m telling the truth."

Anya shakes her head, drops the knife. “Not about that. I don’t trust you, so I don’t love you. It’s simple.”

"Oh," Clarke says, "so if…?"

Anya stares at her long enough for Clarke to realise the naïvety of her wish. 

Clarke ducks her head in embarrassment, but then comes back to hold Anya’s gaze. “Our people have a lot of work to do,” she says.

"Yes," Anya says. "We do."


	8. Mount Weather - Maya/Harper (sequel to #6)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sequel for [DAY 6: ACE CHARACTER](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3272117/chapters/7211435) fic because I couldn’t get it out of my head
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110475312466/8-together-in-mount-weather)

Harper has a plan. It’s a crazy plan. It’s the kind of plan that even Bellamy would have disagreed with, because it is completely reckless and with little to gain, but she’s restless and determined, which she’s discovered is a dangerous mix.

Sneaking out is the hardest part. Ever since Clarke staged her escape, security has been tight, but Clarke left her notes behind and she’d scrawled the changeover times in the corner of the page. So Harper dresses in a stolen decontamination suit and redirects the guard about to take over, then it’s only a matter of waiting until the other guard leaves his post in search of the other. 

She disables the alarm in the way that Monty showed her, and then she’s through the decontamination chamber and then the outside door and on the Ground for the first time in weeks. She takes off her hazmat helmet and takes a deep breath. She can smell pollen and rain and pine trees. The air even seems to have a  _taste_. She feels the wind on her face and smiles into it. She missed the Ground. 

But, she doesn’t have time to dwell. She’s on a mission. 

When she’s finished, Harper replaces her helmet and returns through another entrance. She makes her posture indifferent and walks past the guards as if she does this every day. Somehow, she gets away with it. 

She disposes of the suit and picks up the things she needs in the lab. She walks back into her dorm, expecting chaos, but all is calm. No one knows anything is amiss. Did anyone even miss her? It’s been an hour, she tells herself, two at the most, there’s no reason they would have noticed. 

She can’t believe her plan actually worked. 

She goes to her bed, picks out the things she needs from under her pillow, and sneaks everything out to a maintenance closet.

At last, she’s finished, and with five minutes to spare. 

She finds Maya where they agreed to meet, in a secluded corner of the dining room. Her head is in a book, as per usual. Harper stifles a smile and walks towards her.

Maya raises her head and smiles broadly, beckoning Harper to sit down.

A bundle of nerves twist in Harper’s stomach, it’s now or never. She pulls out her gift from where it’s hidden in her bag.

Maya stands up. Her smile falters. “What. What is that?”

"A present."

"But… how?" Maya asks, her eyes wide. 

Harper can’t tell if it’s in awe or fear.

"It’s safe," Harper says hurriedly. "I sprayed them with the stuff in the lab, and I wrapped them in plastic for extra protection, you should be safe from radiation."

"They’re flowers."

"Yes."

"From outside."

"Yes."

Maya’s eyes search the room around them, but it’s quiet, no one else has seen. She steps forward, and without touching them, bends down to study them: the bright colours, the ribbon, the handwritten tag… 

_someone worth taking risks for_

Maya straightens again, and stares into Harper’s eyes. “I can’t believe you - “

And then Maya is cradling Harper’s face and pressing their lips together. 

"You like it then?" Harper asks when Maya breaks away.

"Don’t ever tell me how you did it, and don’t ever do it again," Maya orders, but then she’s giving Harper that small secret smile of hers, and prising the flowers out of Harper’s hands. "Thank you," she whispers, "they’re beautiful."  


	9. Holiday - Anya/Lexa (past Costia/Lexa)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anya/Lexa (& past Costia/Lexa)
> 
> Canon compliant (ish)
> 
>  
> 
> [tumblr](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110576565721/9-holiday)

Lexa wakes to the sound of birdsong. There is a warmth in the air that had been sorely missed over winter. Today is the day of new beginnings. 

 

Last night, their clan had celebrated the Spring Equinox late into the night. Their fire burnt high and the feast was filling. Smoke spiralled into the the clear night sky. Anya had stood close beside her; the woman who had been her mentor, and now had become her most trusted advisor. 

Anya had been away recently, tracking and eliminating the Sky People that have come to live on their land, while Lexa had been commanding the war against the Ice People. There was an unspoken truce over Spring Equinox; it was a time for family, to say goodbye to the departed, and to welcome in the new.

They watched the fire burn for the longest time before Anya finally spoke. “I was sorry to hear about Costia. I trust your revenge was successful.”

"The Ice Nation will not be troubling us for a long while. We ought to focus on the Sky People. You say you have identified their leader?"

"Yes, I have. But tonight is not a night for planning war," Anya says. "You need to grieve."

"We have all lost people."

"That doesn’t take away from your loss. You must make your peace with it. Overcome the weakness in your heart."

"I am at peace," Lexa snaps.

"Is that so?"

 

In the light of morning, Lexa can see that Anya was right to give the advice, but Lexa had not realised the weight upon her shoulders until she woke to this beautiful morning without it. Something within her is settled; resolved. 

She opens her eyes to see Anya dozing beside her on the bed. A large fur blanket covers their naked bodies. She does not feel guilty of their actions nor sad that it will likely not reoccur. She needed the closeness, but she is not naive enough to mistake that for affection. She respects Anya, and owes her a great debt, but to love her would be inviting weakness. 

The Equinox has granted her a new beginning, and Lexa feels at peace with her resolution, knowing that she will not make the mistake of loving again.


	10. AU: The One With The Cat - Everyone/Everyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "firefighter/police officer/doctor/etc au" 
> 
> I couldn’t decide which AU to do or which characters to do so HAVE THEM ALL. I’m in such a silly mood tonight. Like, how did this fic even happen IDK.
> 
> Everyone/Everyone. Clarke, Raven, Abby, Octavia, Lexa, Anya & a very important cat. 
> 
> cw: swearing, (comic) accident, Reyes level of Sassiness
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110659551101/10-the-one-with-the-cat)

"You are an actual cliché, Griffin," Raven shouts skywards. "An actual, walking, talking, cliché of a firefighter."

There is a rustle of leaves and then Clarke sticks her head out from the foliage of the tree she’s climbing and glares down at Raven. “If this is so embarrassing for you, you could just leave.”

"And miss you getting clawed to death by a cat? No way." Raven smirks and folds her arms, casually leaning back against the fire truck. 

"Thanks for the support, Reyes," Clarke says with sarcasm as she pulls herself up over another branch. 

An ambulance parks beside the truck with enough noise that Clarke sticks her head out again to investigate. She looks scandalised. “You called an _ambulance_?” 

"No, I called your mother," Raven corrects with a sly grin. 

"What?!" Clarke nearly falls out the tree.

"But then again, maybe the ambulance was a good call."

Clarke steadies herself with the help of the trunk. The tiny black and white cat is still three branches a top of her. She’s too far away for Raven to hear the swear words directed at her. 

Abby hops out of the ambulance, accompanied by Octavia, the new police officer.  

"Slow day too, huh?" Raven asks them.

"You’ve no idea," Octavia says, joining Raven against the truck. "We just finished dealing with some drunks by the docks when we got your call. It was either this or cleaning up the vomit."

Abby joins them, and passes them her open packet of popcorn. 

Raven stuffs a handful in her mouth. “Do you just bring this with you everywhere?” 

"It’s handy. You never know when your daughter is going to make a fool of herself."

Raven tilts her head in amused agreement and glances up at Clarke again who is reaching in vain for the next branch.

"You need me to get the ladder, Griffin?"

"No," Clarke shouts back down, "I can - " she latches on and pulls herself up.

"Impressive," Octavia muses. 

"Yeah," Raven huffs, "I think that’s what’s she’s aiming for."

Octavia looks confused but Abby glances around the neighbourhood in excitement. “Where?”

Raven nods towards the house behind them where a young woman stands on the doorstep talking on her cell phone and looking nervously up at the scene. 

Abby nods in approval. “Alright. So who is she this time?”

Raven grins, and makes her answer sound as exotic as possible: “Lexa.”

Octavia whistles. 

Raven laughs. “New boss at the call centre. Clarke’s been eyeing her up for weeks.”

An angry voice sounds from the trees, “Has it occurred to you that I just wanted to do a good deed?”

Raven looks across to Abby and Octavia and then in unison they say, “No.”

"I hate you guys," Clarke mutters, but finally pulls herself on to the same branch as the cat.

Clarke and the cat enter some sort of staring contest as Clarke shuffles towards it. Abby passes the popcorn. 

Lexa runs over to them a minute later, phone still in her hand. “Is she okay? What if she falls? Shouldn’t we get a net to catch her or something?”

"I’m confused…" Octavia says, "are we talking about Clarke or the cat?"

Raven nearly chokes on her popcorn. Abby pounds her on the back until she can breathe again. Raven wipes tears from her eyes to see that Clarke is within grasping distance now.

"The cat," Abby supposes.

"Who were you calling by the way?" Raven asks Lexa.

"Oh," she says, as if she’d forgotten the phone clutched in her hand, "My partner, Anya."

A deafening snap is followed by a muffled curse word and the high-pitched screech of a cat as the branch Clarke was on collapses. Clarke falls down onto the thicker branch below with a thump, but the cat claws over Clarke and jumps across the falling debris until it reaches the ground, and then sprints across the lawn into Lexa’s waiting arms.

"Definitely the cat," Abby surmises. 

Raven smirks. Lexa is muttering nonsense into the cat’s fur and backing away towards the house where a woman just pulled up in a red Mercedes. 

A groan sounds from the tree.

"You okay, Griffin?" Raven shouts up at her.

Clarke raises a hand to give her the finger.

"She’s fine," Abby says. 

"I fucking hate all of you," Clarke shouts back. "Now call me a damn ambulance." 


	11. Clarke's Drawings - Clarke/Lexa (+ Bellamy)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "11. Clarke’s partner or crush finds Clarke’s drawings of them!"
> 
> spoilt for choice with this but
> 
> Clarke/Lexa
> 
> also [that headcanon](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3272117/chapters/7196984) came back what a surprise
> 
> cw: swearing but tbh when do I not
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110741456191/11-clarkes-drawings)

The Sky People no longer question Lexa when she comes to Camp Jaha to seek Clarke’s council. The men on the gate let her in without so much as a weapon search. The alliance between their people has only strengthened since they took Mount Weather, in no small part due to the strong connection between their leaders. Lexa visits even more now that they are courting, but if Clarke’s people know about their new association, they have been discreet about it. 

Lexa arrives at Clarke’s quarters. She appreciates how Clarke and the others from the Dropship sleep on the ground much like her clan do, most of the Sky People hide away in their metallic spaceship, but Clarke and her kind refuse to, instead creating a stubborn line of tents between the Ark and the perimeter. 

"Clarke?" Lexa asks, pulling back the canvas.

The tent is empty. Clarke must be out on duty. Sometimes, instead of finding Clarke with her army and council, Lexa finds her aiding the healer, or tinkering with metal parts on the Ark, or sometimes out in the forest hunting for food. She is not a leader in the traditional sense, and Lexa has come to accept this; honour it, even. She will have to ask Clarke’s seconds - Bellamy and Raven - for her current whereabouts.

Lexa is about to leave when the sight of paper and pens catches her eye. 

When their people took Mount Weather, she knew that Clarke claimed some of her possessions there, but Lexa never considered asking what they were. There is no doubt in her mind that the elegant wooden box of artists tools are from that place. 

Curiously, Lexa places the box aside and lifts the pad of paper. A pencil rolls away from the drawing and onto the bed. Clarke must have left in a hurry not to put her work away. The top drawing is barely a few lines, though Lexa thinks it might be in the process of becoming a building. She turns the page to see a beautifully detailed study of a wildflower that grows near the river. It’s perfect. Almost an extract replica. Careful not to smudge it, Lexa’s finger hovers just about the paper and traces the outline of the petals. She’s never known artistry so detailed; there are countless small gentle lines that make up a single shape.

In awe, she turns to the next page, and her hand falters at the sight. It’s her. A portrait of her in war paint. And this drawing is impossibly more detailed than the last. It must have taken Clarke hours. Lexa forgets how to breathe, her counterpart looks confident, deadly, a sure leader… but Clarke’s also captured a mischievousness somehow in the eyes. Is this what she looks like to her? Does Clarke see her as this strong? It makes her proud at the same time it makes her wonder…  _Is this all she sees in me?_

The next page is a series of facial sketches. Lexa blushes at the sight. They’re all of her, but this time none have the seriousness of the war portrait. They’re… _silly_. A dozen sketches of Lexa laughing and pulling faces and flirting, and if any of her people ever saw this they would never take her seriously as their commander again. At least her qualms have settled, but she’d burn the evidence if the artwork didn’t clearly mean so much to Clarke. 

Lexa turns to the next page when there is a flurry of movement outside. She hurries to hide the paper when her eyes catch sight of the new drawing. Lexa. Sprawled out naked on the bed. Lexa swallows the tears that threaten to build. It’s so… loving. Loving is the only word she has for the careful touch that has been laced into the drawing. 

Clarke comes bursting through the tent. 

Lexa freezes, the art still in her hands.

"Oh shit," Clarke says, running over and pulling the pad out of her hands, "I’m so sorry, I didn’t think to - "

Lexa kisses her before any more apologises can escape her mouth. “They’re beautiful,” she sighs, before surging back into Clarke, pulling her close, and kissing her until they both can’t breathe.

Clarke gasps, and attempts to say Lexa’s name, but Lexa won’t stop kissing her until Clarke understands how much she means to her. 

Someone coughs.

Lexa breaks away.

Bellamy is standing awkwardly in the doorway. There are charts clutched in his hands. He must have followed Clarke in.

Lexa blushes. 

"You know what," Bellamy says, "I’m just gonna come back."

He backs out of the tent looking as awkward as Lexa feels. 

"Later," he adds. "Much later."

He ducks out of the sight. Clarke is still in Lexa’s arms, laughing so hard that her head rests upon Lexa’s shoulder. 

"I tried to tell you," Clarke says between giggles.

Lexa looks down to where Clarke is smiling into her shoulder. If she could draw, she would spend her life attempting to draw that smile. Maybe that’s what Clarke is trying to do with her pages full of sketches: memorialise. 

When Clarke’s laughter has ceased, Lexa cradles her face and brings it softly to her lips. She hopes the kiss will say the words that she can’t quite bring herself to say just yet. 


	12. Bed Sharing - Clarke/Raven (Clarke/Raven/Bellamy)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2x12 (Rubicon) post-ep ficlet because I am incredibly predictable and needed fix-it cuddles. don’t look at me. this was gonna be fluff until this frakking episode came and took all my feelings. (also it didn’t help I was listening to [this](http://youtu.be/QhZTPyopPSw))
> 
> Clarke/Raven (also Clarke/Raven/Bellamy if you read their shared concern like I do)
> 
> cw: re-visiting things that happened in that episode, so use your discretion
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110842783316/12-bed-sharing)

It is dark by the time Clarke makes her way back to Camp Jaha. 

She stayed to heal as many of the wounded as should could at Tondc. A part of her thought it might ease her guilt; patching up what remained of her lethal decision; but if anything, seeing the ruin and pain that she had bought, only made it worse. She has more blood on her hands than she can ever account for. Even if Bellamy is successful, would the sacrifice have been worth it? 

Clarke promises Lexa she will be back by morning, but she needs to check on Bellamy’s progress before they can plan their assault on Mount Weather. She doesn’t know how Lexa looks so calm. At least a dozen of her people lie dead in the hole that was her home, but her face is impassive. It scares Clarke that someone could experience loss so great that they no longer feel it.

Clarke makes her way through the dark and quiet camp to the engineering room; the part of the Ark that Raven has made her own. Raven sleeps on a blanket near the radio. She shivers slightly in her sleep. Clarke makes her way over to the radio and tries to contact Bellamy, but there is only static. 

Raven stirs. “He’s offline, but Bellamy got our people. They’re trying to break out. I’m on standby…” she yawns. 

Clarke puts down the receiver, but doesn’t otherwise move.

Raven sits up and leans back on her arms. “I saw the missile.”

There’s an accusation somewhere in there, Clarke can hear it, but she’s been so hard on Raven that it’s only fair. 

"Did you evacuate? Is Octavia safe?"

Clarke closes her eyes and tries to wish away the tears behind her eyelids. “Octavia’s safe,” she replies, “Lincoln. Lexa. Indra. Mom.”

"Clarke?"

Clarke shudders. She can’t do this. She  _can’t_.

"Clarke? Did you evacuate?" Raven’s voice is higher; she knows something is wrong. 

Clarke clenches her fist, but she can’t stop her feelings from showing now that they’ve surfaced. Shakily, she steps away from the table and walks towards the blankets. She keeps her back to Raven as she sits beside her on the makeshift bed. 

Raven places her hand gently on Clarke’s shoulder, “Hey,” she says. “Talk to me.”

It’s Raven’s kind encouragement that breaks what remains of Clarke’s resolve. The tears start falling, in a steady stream down her face. Soon she can’t breathe with the pain of it; she gasps and shudders and sniffles and tastes the salt in her mouth. Raven wordlessly eases her backwards into her arms. Clarke hides her face in the crook of Raven’s neck. There’s a reassuring pressure on her back, and fingers in her hair, and the brush of Raven’s lips against her temple.

Clarke gasps out between sobs, “I did something bad.”

Raven tries to shush her but Clarke’s sins are too great to be silenced.

"I did something really bad," Clarke says.  

"You tried," Raven whispers.

Clarke pulls back. Her face must be a sight, but Raven needs to hear it. Clarke shakes her head. “No. I didn’t. I didn’t - ” her voice cracks.

Raven’s hand hovers between them, uncertain, and her face betrays her shock; disappointment;  _disbelief_. 

"Bellamy," Clarke gives as her reason. She can’t string together more words.

Understanding passes Raven’s face. She’s smart enough to put the two together. “Mount Weather couldn’t know we have an inside man.”

Clarke nods, but she can’t look at Raven’s unreadable face any longer, and lets herself fall back into the warmth of Raven’s nape. She’s expecting rejection. She’s expecting Raven to push her away, demand explanations, be angry at least… but a hand cautiously comes back to cradle her head, and Clarke almost chokes on the emotion it evokes. She reaches to clutch at Raven’s tee, and Raven pulls her closer, until they’re both clinging to each other, lying between the blankets. 

"Then you made a hard choice," Raven councils. "We’ve all done things to survive that we’re not proud of." 

"I killed - " Clarke breaks off. "Those people - "

"You saved Bellamy," Raven counters, "Our people." 

Clarke shakes her head. “I don’t know if - “

Raven tries to follow the movement, until they’re so close their noses are brushing with every shake. “But you tried. You always do what you think is best.”

Clarke closes her eyes and tries to breathe in the comfort that Raven is offering. She doesn’t deserve a single moment of it. “I don’t know who I am anymore,” she admits in a whisper. 

Raven says nothing for a while, just holds her close and moves her palm across Clarke’s back in a soothing motion. “You’re Clarke,” she says finally. “And I’d still pick you first.”

Clarke smiles at the memory of their old banter. It seems like a lifetime ago. 

She opens her eyes to see Raven’s face so close and full of understanding. Clarke reaches to touch her fingertips against Raven’s jaw, Raven watches the movement with curiosity, but doesn’t make a move to stop her. Slowly, Clarke presses her lips against Raven’s. She watches Raven’s eyelids flutter with it, in surprise, but not apology. Her lips tingle as they break apart. Raven searches her eyes for an explanation. It would be easy to follow the temptation to taste more but tonight is not the night. It is only a thank you, and a promise. Clarke strokes her fingers across Raven’s jaw then drops her hand and places her forehead against Raven’s shoulder once more. She breathes in the scent and the warmth. “Thank you,” she says. She feels Raven smile shyly against her hair.

And they sleep, until the radio wakes them, and they go to war.


	13. Teachers AU - Abby/Tsing (+ Clarke)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Established Abby Griffin/Dr Tsing 
> 
> I always thought that their relationship would be great if they ever met in canon but… nope, I still ship it in my dreams though. Also, we don’t know Dr Tsing’s first name and I doubt we ever will so… Maria? I’m claiming Maria. FIGHT ME.
> 
> Teaching Hospital AU
> 
> cw: alcohol, swearing
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110924330501/13-teachers-au)

The doorbell wakes Abby from her nap. She groans and lies back on the bed, squinting until she adjusts to the daylight. She’s only been home for two hours and whoever it is can just  _fuck off_.

The door bell rings again. It’s followed by a series of increasingly impatient knocks.

"Fine!" Abby snaps, throwing the covers aside. "I’m coming!" she shouts. She throws on a robe over her nightgown and shuffles towards the door, cursing everything in existence as she goes. "This better be damn good."

Abby opens the apartment door and barely has a chance to see who her visitor is before they’re pushing her aside and striding into the apartment like they own the place. Dr Maria Tsing. Of course. 

"Shit day," Maria states. "I need a fucking drink." She walks towards the drinks cabinet and pours herself a bourbon before Abby can dispute it. She downs half the glass in one swig. Her face scrunches up in distaste before she shakes it off and her shoulders relax. "I had the Blake siblings and Griffin Junior observing in surgery this afternoon," she explains, and drinks the remainder. 

"Careful," Abby says, prizing the empty glass out of Maria’s hands. "That’s my daughter you’re talking about."

"Yeah? Anyone ever tell you that your daughter is a stubborn and insufferable know-it-all?"

"Oh, plenty," Abby says. "They say she takes after me."

Maria studies Abby and then looks away with a huff. “Well, they’re wrong. She’s worse.”

Abby puts the glass on the table behind her, out of Maria’s reach. 

"It was a good thing she was there," Maria admits. She leans against the drinks cabinet, breathing deeply. "If Clarke hadn’t spotted it…" she sighs, "but she did. Reminds me of our first solo day in surgery. Remember? The woman - "

”- was pregnant,” Abby finishes. 

Maria nods. “Almost fucked up the whole operation. But Clarke’s got a good eye… and good instincts.”

"Call it a Griffin thing," Abby smirks. 

Maria smiles indulgently and looks over to Abby for the first time since she entered. “Oh fuck, Abby, I’m sorry, I forgot you had a morning shift, you must be exhausted, I -“

"It’s okay." Abby shrugs. "Looks like you needed it," she says, nodding towards her diminishing bottle of bourbon. 

Maria shakes her head. “No,” she says, pulling Abby closer, “I needed  _you_.”

Abby laughs at the cheesy line but lets Maria kiss her with the taste of alcohol on her tongue. It’s intoxicating in more ways than one. 

"You should get some rest," Maria says, but she doesn’t make an effort to move out of the embrace.

"Not without you," Abby says with a flirty smile. 

Maria laughs and kisses her again. “If you insist.”

"Oh, I insist." Abby says, and pulls Maria back to bed. 


	14. Fake Relationship - Clarke/Lexa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine’s! I don’t know about you guys, but I have a hot date with Black Widow and Hawkeye this evening so I’m gonna post this early and then curl up for my Marvel/pizza/beer binge of epicness. <3 
> 
> Clarke/Lexa
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111002876291/14-fake-relationship)

Clarke is called to Tondc for negotiations with the Commander, so she’s surprised when on arrival, Lexa drags her somewhere other than the meeting hall. 

"We need to pretend to be together," Lexa says urgently.

Clarke feels like she’s missed something. Several somethings. She looks around the empty room, but there’s nothing to give her any clues. “What?”

"My people don’t trust you. They think our alliance will fall apart. We need to pretend to be together."

"Right," Clarke says, slotting the pieces together, "like in old times, when marriages were arranged as strategic alliances. You want that?"

"No," Lexa says, "We need that. I do not expect you to commit fully, but outwardly we should appear to be lovers."

So Clarke agrees and only afterwards does she realise that Lexa implied that _she_  would have “committed fully”. 

-

They set out some ground rules: they should be seen to stay in each others’ tents at least twice a week, they should be seen to be walking together and dancing together at festivals. 

"Your people are very affectionate in public," Lexa observes, "we are not, but we do have indications of courting, and of course we ought to kiss when its feasible that we could believe we are alone."

Clarke listens as Lexa lists the various Grounder customs, things like when to share food and give gifts. Clarke explains that it’s customary for her people to introduce their partners to their family, usually over a meal, and Lexa falls silent. 

"You don’t have any family, do you?" Clarke asks.

Lexa shakes her head, once, and firmly. 

Clarke resists the urge to comfort her. 

-

It goes well at first. They spend more time with each other, which isn’t exactly a hardship, and the only difference in their conversations is the intentional brush of fingers. They keep their heads close together and their voices low when strategizing, so that passerbys might think they are doing more than planning war. 

-

Clarke’s nervous when Lexa comes to stay at hers a few nights later. She knows people will talk. Clarke’s not ashamed of them thinking that she’s with Lexa, only ashamed that it’s a scam. She doesn’t like lying to her people, even if it is for their greater good. 

They don’t talk much at first. Clarke imagines it must be just as awkward for Lexa as it is for her. They lie down on the blankets, leaving as much space between them as possible, and look up into the canvas of the tent. 

"Do you snore?" Clarke asks. 

"You’ll soon find out," Lexa says. She smiles, and then turns away, back to Clarke.

She doesn’t snore, but when Lexa wakes she inform Clarke, “You talk in your sleep.”

"What was I saying?"

"Don’t turn the moon."

They both try to stifle their laughter but it doesn’t work.

-

They sleep together a few more times before Clarke notices that there’s no longer a wide gap between them. 

She wakes one morning to find Lexa’s nose pressed against hers. She can feel warm breath on her cheek. It’s nice. It’s… more than nice. And it takes Clarke a while to remember that this is only a pretence. It’s with sadness that she leaves the warmth of their tent that morning. 

-

Clarke begins to get paranoid that no one is buying their charade. She has a word with Lexa about it. “We need to be more affectionate in public, my people aren’t buying it.”

Lexa nods. “Okay, whatever you think is best.”

They depart publicly outside the gates of Camp Jaha, and instead of the lingering gazes and touches that they’ve been using, Clarke pulls her close so she can drop a kiss on her cheek.

She swears she sees Lexa blush as they separate. 

Clarke may, or may not, keep finding excuses to do it. 

-

Clarke startles awake at the feel of a body next to hers. They hadn’t arranged to see each other this evening. She turns towards Lexa, a question on her tongue, when Lexa crawls into her arms. Clarke only has a second to be startled by Lexa’s movements before her mind has a chance to decode the body language. 

Panic claws at Clarke’s throat. “What’s wrong? she forces out. Lexa is shaking in her arms, not crying, just… shaking. “Lexa?”

"Bad day," Lexa replies numbly. "Can we just lie here for a while?" She asks, closing her eyes, like she’s expecting the rejection. "Please?"

"Yeah," Clarke says, "of course." She pulls her closer, enveloping Lexa in a hug, and her hands move comfortingly along Lexa’s back. Lexa relaxes immediately at the touch. Clarke presses a kiss against her temple, and watches Lexa’s eyelids flutter with it. She hopes Lexa couldn’t hear her heartbeat pick up pace. 

-

Turns out the “bad day” was the assassination of several key members of her clan by the Ice Nation. Clarke spends the next few days by Lexa’s side, helping her through the grief and the plans for revenge, and holding her every evening in her arms. 

-

Lexa finds out it’s an inside job. She’s pissed. She’s ranting loudly, tearing the meeting room apart, when Clarke hears footsteps coming down the stairs. The clan can’t know there’s a civil war on the horizon. It’s possible that the disaster can be diverted but Lexa is not in a state to think level-headedly right now. 

Thinking quickly, Clarke grabs Lexa and silences her with a kiss. Lexa gasps in surprise but Clarke won’t relent, and kisses her more passionately, pressing her against the wall. Lexa starts kissing back and it only encourages Clarke further. It’s like a dam broke, and now that they’re kissing, Clarke has a whole month of near-kissing to make up for. She feels Lexa’s fingers scratch her scalp and her own fingers sneak under Lexa’s shirt to run along her sides. Lexa tugs at her bottom lips and Clarke groans into the kiss. It’s only when Clarke hears distant chatter that she remembers the purpose of the kiss. The footsteps are long gone. 

Clarke regretfully steps away from the kiss. Lexa’s eyes flicker across her face. Clarke tries to keep her expression blank even though her heart is hammering in her chest and her stomach is still twisted in knots. 

"There was a -" Clarke tries, indicating towards the door.

Lexa nods. “Good thinking.” 

Clarke steps further away and breaks the eye contact. They don’t talk about it. Instead, they plan how to capture the traitor. 

-

When Lexa’s clan is settled once more, Clake finally broaches the subject of dinner. Abby has been asking for weeks but it never seemed like the right time. Lexa agrees, but Clarke wasn’t expecting her to ride into Camp Jaha that evening in a dress and with flowers for Abby. Apparently she’d been doing her research. “Octavia helped,” she admits. 

"You look beautiful," Clarke says, as they walk towards the Ark. This time Clarke doesn’t try to pretend she doesn’t see Lexa blush. She laces her fingers through Lexa’s and gives her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Dinner goes well, probably because once the flowers are dispensed with, they all drop the pretence of conventions, and just talk. Lexa seems interested in Abby’s healing methods and Abby asks about Grounder history and mostly Clarke just sits there, drinking wine, and marvelling at how this might actually all work out. 

-

Afterwards, Clarke is feeling brave and happy, and instead of going straight to her tent, walks Lexa to the nearby pond, holding her hand the whole way. The gentle movements of Lexa’s thumb against her palm, even when they are out of sight from their people, is enough to convince Clarke to say something. The full moon is reflected in the water, and it shivers every now and then in the ripples.

"When you first suggested this," Clarke says, "you talked about committing to our alliance." 

Lexa’s hand freezes in hers, like she’s just noticed they’re still connected. Clarke tightens her grip before Lexa can get the wrong idea. 

"If you don’t feel the same way, then that’s fine," Clarke says, swallowing the lump in her throat that says it would definitely  _not_ be fine, “but I’m not… this isn’t strategic for me. Not any longer.”

Lexa’s smile is brighter than the moon. “Good,” she says, through the barely-stifled glee. “And I should admit…” she whispers, “It never has been for me.”

Clarke huffs. “You could have just asked me out.”

"I… didn’t know if you were interested. And our people did need to see this. The alliance between our clans is stronger than ever."

"It is," Clarke agrees with a grin. "We did good."

"So," Lexa says, turning towards Clarke, and taking her other hand in hers. "We agree this is for us now? As well as our people?"

Clarke presses her lips softly against Lexa’s. “We agree.”


	15. Hurt/Comfort - Clarke/Lexa/Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ok so I love h/c especially in this fandom b/c everyone so desperately needs a little tlc… but also I figured it was about time I wrote a polyship for femslash feb so… 
> 
> Clarke/Lexa/Raven
> 
> cw: death, gore, mourning
> 
> (sorry Abby)
> 
> [(AO3)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111112899441/15-hurt-comfort)

When they find the body of Chancellor Abby Griffin in the forest, it leaves everyone at Camp Jaha reeling in shock, because she wasn’t killed in gunfire from the Mountain Men or by a spear from a Grounder, she was killed by nature. The thing that attacked her, whatever it was, didn’t know of her bravery or her importance. It only saw her as food.

When Kane finds the remains, three days after Abby had been missing, he carries them back to Camp Jaha for a funeral in a bag. He doesn’t let Clarke see the body. He’s given a black eye in return. 

Afterwards, Raven tries to get Clarke to talk, to eat, to cry, to shout… to do anything other than sit in Abby’s old quarters and stare emptily at the walls. Raven’s there when Kane tells Clarke that he’s going to inform Commander Lexa and that he plans to invite their allies to the funeral that evening. “It’s what she would have wanted,” Kane adds.

Clarke’s eye twitches in anger. It’s enough to make Raven stand up and argue that she should be the one to tell Lexa. Clarke doesn’t disagree. Then again, she doesn’t say much of anything at the moment.

The Grounders have relocated after Tondc got hit, and no one seems to be commenting on the fact that it’s nearer to Camp Jaha. Raven’s noticed though, and has an inkling as to why.

Lexa runs towards Raven as soon as she passes the gates. “Any news?” she asks eagerly, hers eyes searching Raven’s for clues. Raven squanders her hope with a shake of her head. Lexa’s shoulders fall. “Oh,” she says. 

Lexa walks back with her through the forest with a small group of Grounders tailing them. “How is she?” Lexa asks eventually, in a whisper, as if she’s worried her people will overhear and kill her for showing concern for another human being. 

"I think she’s trying your trick of pretending not to care," Raven bites.

Lexa takes the dig in her stride. “Clarke’s strong.”

"No one’s that strong, Lexa. Her mother died. Does that mean anything to you?"

"If it didn’t, would I be here?"

"Yes, you would," Raven says bitterly. "Abby was the Chancellor of our people. You have to make an appearance." 

Lexa grabs her arm and spins Raven to face her. “Why do you hate me so much?”

"I don’t hate you," Raven says, keeping and challenging Lexa’s gaze. They hold steady. "You’re heartless. And I didn’t care, didn’t think anything of it, until you took what remained of Clarke’s heart with you." 

"Her choices are her own."

Raven shakes her head. “Sure, but you were behind every one.”

Lexa’s people catch up with them, and Lexa drops her voice to a whisper. “No one can take away Clarke’s heart. She has tougher skin than she once did, but underneath she is still good.”

Raven wrenches her arm out of Lexa’s grip. “I hope you’re right.”

Night is falling as they walk through the gates of Camp Jaha. Raven leads Lexa straight to Clarke, knowing she’ll want to see her. Clarke hasn’t moved. 

"The funeral’s soon," Raven says. "They’re building the fire."

Clarke nods. She doesn’t appear to have noticed Lexa in the doorway. 

Lexa steps forward. “Clarke?”

Her voice seems to set some strength in Clarke’s shoulders. Clarke stands up, “We should go then.” 

Raven exchanges a look with Lexa at the sudden change in Clarke but it would be useless to argue. They flank her either side as they walk towards the unlit bonfire.

Kane says some words, so do other people from the camp, and then they look towards Clarke. 

"Do you want to say something?" Raven asks her. 

Clarke nods. She steps forwards. She takes the lit torch from Kane. ”Yu gonplei ste odon.” (Your fight is over.) And she lights the pyre. 

Raven and Lexa watch as Clarke turns away without a second look and walks into her tent. When she disappears from sight, Raven turns towards Lexa. Lexa looks equally as confused by Clarke’s behaviour. The fire is now burning hot beside them, the crackling of wood is the only break in the silence.

"Is this her way of mourning?" Lexa asks.

"No," Raven says, and hates that she’s seen Clarke grieve enough to know. "I don’t know what she’s doing… but I never do lately."

Lexa studies her. “Should we do something?”

Raven blinks in surprise. Is Lexa seriously asking for her advice about Clarke? “We’ll give her some time. Check in on her later?”

Lexa nods, accepting the order, which unsettles Raven even further. 

An hour later, and Clarke still hasn’t emerged. Raven finds Lexa by the fire, consoling Abby’s trainee. She watches curiously for a while until Lexa notices, gives Raven a knowing smile, and says her goodbyes to the trainee. 

"I was going to check on Clarke…" Raven says.

Lexa nods and wordlessly follows Raven. They exchange one last look, searching each other for support, before entering the tent. 

Clarke is lying on her blankets, curled up into ball, and crying so still and silently that it takes Raven a while to realise she’s not actually asleep. The sight is heartbreaking. Clarke hasn’t even looked up at the intrusion. Raven looks towards Lexa for help and they have a short silent conversation before Lexa nods slowly in agreement. Raven reaches out and squeezes Lexa’s hand in reassurance, before they approach Clarke.

Raven kneels down beside her, and places a hand on her shoulder. “Hey,” she whispers.

Clarke looks up and her red-rimmed eyes solidifies Raven’s decision. 

"We’re here," Raven says. "Is that okay?"

Clarke looks over her shoulder to see Lexa behind her. Lexa gives her a tight smile. 

Clarke turns back to Raven and nods.

Slowly, so she doesn’t startle Clarke, Raven comes to lie beside her. She watches as Lexa mirrors the position behind Clarke. 

Clarke fists her fingers in Raven’s tee and pulls her closer. Lexa mimics the closeness against Clarke’s back, cautiously curling an arm around Clarke. Lexa needn’t have worried, Clarke grabs her hand like a life-raft and pulls their hands close to her chest. 

Clarke begins to shake, the tears coming fast and messier, now that she has let herself mourn. Raven can feel Clarke’s wet eyelashes against her neck. She exchanges a look with Lexa,  _Clarke still has her heart_ , she tries to say but she doesn’t know if Lexa hears her. 

They say nothing while Clarke mourns, until the tears run dry, and she starts to talk. Raven and Lexa stay close and listen until the sun rises on a new day. 


	16. Fave Ship* - Clarke/Lexa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *I don’t have a favourite ship but my Clarke/Lexa ficlets tend to be the most popular so I’m going with that. (Also it’s very short today… and late - sorry!)
> 
> In other news, it’s been two weeks and I’m still not over [Lexa watching Clarke sleep](http://the-100-femslash.tumblr.com/post/109562944879/commander-lexa-watching-princess-clarke).
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111265948941/16-fave-ship)

They are resting in the forest after escaping from the monster’s den. It is daylight and Lexa ought to wake her companion but she does not. 

Until today, Lexa had never thought of Clarke and her people as warriors. The Sky People were losing the war with her clan before the luck of the fire at their dropship. But having witnessed Clarke’s ingenuity in escaping from the den, her insistence on not leaving the wounded behind, and the care with which she nursed Lexa’s injuries afterwards… Lexa needs to re-evaluate. Clarke is not a warrior, no, but she is not weaker for it. Her heart, in this instance at least, proved to be an asset. Lexa would have been dead without it. 

Lexa watches Clarke, as she peacefully dreams, and wonders how she can ask Clarke to make the difficult choices but not squander the good instincts led by her heart. Perhaps Clarke has already found a way; she claimed to have only saved Lexa for tactical reasons, after all. But, underneath, doesn’t Lexa wish that it has been something a little more than that…? She had mistaken Clarke’s actions as love, as weakness, but now Clarke has proved them as tactics to protect the alliance, there is a small part of Lexa that wishes it weren’t true. After Costia, she didn’t think she would look for a partner again. But is Clarke not worthy?

These thoughts keep her awake long after dawn, trying to find the answers in the way the sun changes its dance across Clarke’s cheek as it rises.

The distant roar from the creature echoes through the woods again. Lexa has been hearing it all night, and is no longer afraid, but this time Clarke awakes in fright. She must have rested sufficiently. Lexa can read her panic in the set of her shoulders. 

"It’s okay," Lexa reassures her. "You’re safe." 

Her restless night must have settled her thoughts, because Lexa cannot let Clarke leave without knowing. “I was wrong about you, Clarke,” she admits. “Your heart shows no sign of weakness.” 

Lexa hopes Clarke might fight her on it, but she says nothing, just gives a tight nod of acknowledgement. Clarke feels nothing, then. If anyone’s heart is  _weak_ , Lexa admonishes herself, it is surely her own. 


	17. Coffee Shop AU - Octavia/Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it’s my favourite AU, I couldn’t _not_
> 
>  
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111300297046/17-coffee-shop-au)

Some genius at the Ark Coffee Shop decided that they should try opening an hour earlier during semesters to try and catch the early birds in need of their caffeine fix. Staring at the empty chairs at five forty-five in the morning, Octavia can only conclude that their “genius” manager, Abby, is  _deluded_. The path that leads to campus is usually swamped with people, but the only movement Octavia can see through the window is a lone bird pecking at the park bench under a street light. The place is deserted. 

Octavia wishes she at least bought her Psychology books to read. Not even Monroe can provide a distraction, as she’s still preparing the baked goods in the back room. 

Octavia is falling asleep at the counter, her head slipping slowly from her hands, when the bell above the door startles her to wakefulness. 

It’s a customer. An actual real customer. An actual real  _pretty_ customer.

"Hello?" the girl asks. 

Octavia realises she must have been staring. She straightens up (in more ways than one) and places a smile on her face that is unnatural for this time of morning. “Hello! Welcome to the Ark! What can I get for you today?”

The girl enters and Octavia notices that her leg is in a brace. There’s a slight limp to her walk, but it doesn’t help that the girl is carrying a weighted bag and a stack of books that look heavier than she is. She looks exhausted. The girl pauses at a table to dispose of her luggage. “I didn’t think you guys were open this early?” she asks, as she rummages through the bag, presumably for her wallet. 

"We’re not," Octavia says and then realises how stupid that sounded and adds, "usually."

The girl looks over at her quizzically.

"We’re trialling it," Octavia explains. 

The girl walks towards the counter and this time her gait is less pained. “Well, you’ve saved me from fifth floor science block coffee so…”

Octavia winces before she can stop herself.

"Yeah, it’s pretty crappy stuff," the girl agrees. "But it’s the only place I can get it this early."

Octavia frowns. “I didn’t think the buildings were open to students until seven.”

The girl looks guilty for a second before shrugging it off. Octavia can’t decide which was the cuter expression. “I know a guy,” she says smugly. “So you’re a science major too?”

"Yeah," Octavia says, still in shock that she’s actually holding a conversation with a girl this pretty and this early, "Psychology."

"Engineering," the girl says, indicting towards her bag. Octavia assumed it held more books, but maybe it was full of tech instead.

"Cool," Octavia says. 

The girl looks back towards the counter, her eyes flickering to the menu boards behind the till, and Octavia realises she’s effectively killed the conversation. 

Before she loses the opportunity entirely, she quickly garbles out her name.

The girl looks at her in confusion. 

"I’m Octavia," she clarifies. 

"Raven."

"Cool," Octavia says again and really hates how her brain apparently goes offline every time Raven smiles. "It’s nice to meet you." 

Raven smiles again and it warms Octavia more than a coffee ever could. “You know, I pass this way everyday at this time, if you wanted to break into the sciences library with me… whenever you’re not working, or whatever, then - “

"I’d like that."

"Okay…" Raven says, holding her gaze. "I can’t guarantee the coffee will be as good but - "

"I don’t mind."

"Okay then." Raven smiles before her eyes flicker to the board again. 

Octavia makes Raven’s chai latte to go and then holds the door open as Raven balances the paper cup expertly on her stack of books. Octavia can’t stop smiling, and even though every word out of her mouth is probably nonsense, Raven doesn’t seem to mind. Raven’s gaze lingers as she says goodbye.

Octavia watches until she’s out of sight and then makes her way back to the counter. Dawn is rising now and Octavia watches as a bird flies down from the tree to join the other on the park bench. Maybe these early mornings aren’t so bad after all. 


	18. Heat Share - Lexa/Raven (Clarke/Lexa/Raven)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’ve seen a lot of tvtropes-inspired things for today’s prompt but I’m going for a fic trope because I am an absolute sucker for the “it’s cold so we should probably cuddle” fics if you [hadn’t](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2803856) [already](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3272117/chapters/7227104) [figured](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3204575).
> 
> Lexa/Raven (implied Clarke/Lexa/Raven)
> 
> cw: swearing (also in-depth analysis of flour that no one cares about and unlikely geographical features)
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111403812951/18-favourite-trope-heat-share)

It was a routine meeting with the Woods Clan until the Ice Nation came and fucked things up. Overrun, they abandoned Tondc and splintered into the woods in every direction. The forest gave them an advantage, as both the Clan and the Sky People knew the terrain better than their enemy. 

In the chaos, Raven doesn’t pay much mind to who she’s following. She’s lost both Clarke and Bellamy and her only hope is to stay with the Grounders and trust they will lead her to safety. It’s not until they’ve been running for a mile that Raven realises her only companion is Commander Lexa. 

Lexa leads her into a cave, hidden by foliage. “This is the rendezvous point for my Generals. Those that survive will meet here tomorrow so that we can plan revenge.”

"What if one of them is captured?" Raven asks. "Won’t they give away the location?"

Lexa turns to stare at her; Lexa’s war paint drips with sweat but her gaze is steady. “No. They are forbidden from speaking.” 

Raven doesn’t doubt it. She remembers Lincoln’s silence, she just hadn’t realised it was under orders. 

"They would rather die," Lexa explains, "than betray the clan. Something that I don’t expect your people to understand."

Raven huffs. “Whatever,” she says, and pushes past Lexa into the cave.

It’s bigger than she expected. There’s an alcove at the back that is hidden from the front. There is chalk clumping on the damp walls. 

"We’ve used this place for planning before," Lexa explains. "We sleep there," she points to the alcove. "In turns. The other keeps watch."

Raven nods. She is exhausted by the battle and their escape. And hungry. She shrugs off her backpack and riffles through it for food. 

"Apple?" she asks, offering the fruit to Lexa. 

Lexa looks unimpressed. She’s crouched behind the foliage just outside the cave, probably checking they haven’t been followed.

"Okay…" Raven says, "Bread then? Or, our people’s attempt at bread. Between you and me, I don’t think they’ve got it quite right yet…  it tastes kinda like dirt and kinda like flowers… But it’s food?"

Lexa turns to her, puzzled. Raven holds the flattish bread-like things towards her.

Lexa moves closer, takes the bread out of her hands and studies it. “Try using beans for flour.”

"What?"

"There’s no wheat here, so use ground beans," she tears a little of the bread off and tastes it. Her faces scrunches up in distaste. "They’ve been using roots. Beans work better."

Raven can’t believe Lexa is giving her advice on something other than war. “Um… thanks? I guess. I’ll pass it on.”

Lexa nods and then takes the apple from Raven’s hand without asking. 

After they’ve eaten and shared some water, they manage to both fit in the alcove at the back of the cave. It’s a squeeze. Raven wonders if Lexa planned on having a guest. Raven’s on the far side, pressed against the cold, damp wall, her head pillowed on her bag, and the blanket that she had thankfully packed, thrown over her. Lexa sits next to her, with a spear in her hand. She has a good view of the entrance from here, but she’s probably too obscured by the shadows to be seen from outside. 

"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" Raven tries. She knows that their clan have a history with the Ice Nation. Clarke mentioned it had something to do with an ex-lover or maybe even something before that. Whatever their history, Lexa just saw her village torched and her people die.

"No," Lexa says. 

"I wonder where Clarke and Bellamy are…"

"I’m sure they’re fine."

"You don’t talk much do you?" Raven says, leaning up on one elbow.

"No," Lexa repeats. "Get some sleep."

"Ugh," Raven says, rolling over to have her back to Lexa. "Whatever."

When the sun falls below the horizon, it seems to take every bit of warmth with it. Raven must have only been sleeping for an hour when she is woken by her own shivers. She tries to go back to sleep, desperately wishing away the cold, but the damp seems to have crawled under her skin and frozen there. She turns over, trying to find a warmer spot, and sees Lexa shivering next to her, the spear clutched against her chest in white skeletal hands. 

"If they haven’t found us by now, they won’t," Raven says, "you need to get warm."

"I’m fine," Lexa says, but her chattering teeth betray her. 

Raven tries to get her frozen joints to cooperate in moving, after some effort, she manages to crawl towards Lexa.

Lexa leans so far away from Raven that she nearly falls over. It would be comical if Raven was in a better mood.

Raven holds open her arms.

"What do you think you’re doing?" 

"Sharing body heat," Raven says. "Obviously." 

"Why would I want to do that?"

Raven drops her arms with a sigh. “Okay, here’s the thing, Clarke likes you, and I’m pretty sure she likes me too. So, if we both freeze to death in this damn cave out of our own stubbornness, Clarke  _will_  defrost us just so she can kill us again herself. Seriously, I’m not risking Clarke’s wrath.” Raven opens her arms again, wiggles her stiff fingers as she gives Lexa a patronising look.

Lexa glares back. “If you dare tell  _anyone_  - “

"Yes because I’m just dying for everyone to know how much of a cuddler I am."

Lexa still looks distrusting.

"I’m not gonna tell anyone, Lexa. I want keep warm, and you want to keep watch, so will you just let me - ?"

"Fine," Lexa snaps, and shuffles forwards in an invitation. 

Raven slips in beside her, her back against the damp wall and her legs either side of Lexa’s. She reaches for the blanket and throws it over the both of them. Lexa cautiously rests her back against Raven’s chest, but Raven can still feel how tense her spine is. Raven mutters a few choice swear words and then wraps her arms around Lexa and yanks her backwards so they are pressed firmly together. Lexa makes a noise of protest but Raven can already feel the heat between them thawing her muscles. Lexa relaxes into the hold, slowly but surely, and even her fingers around the spear begin to loosen. There’s a good view of the cave opening here, even if at the minute, all Raven can see are shadows. 

"You can sleep if you want," Raven says. "I’ll keep watch."

"I thought you said it was pointless."

Raven shrugs the best she can with a Commander pressed against her. “If it means you’ll sleep, I’ll do it.”

Lexa huffs. “You people care too much.”

Raven rolls her eyes. She wondered where Clarke got this whole “love is weakness” thing from. She tries again, “If you don’t sleep tonight, you’ll make terrible plans tomorrow and get us all killed. Better?”

Raven can see the sides of Lexa’s smile. Their faces are both hidden from each other. It’s an advantage they don’t usually have. 

"Better," Lexa says. 

Raven lets her head fall against Lexa’s nape so it doesn’t have to rest against the damp wall. The growing heat and comfort is making her sleepy, but she promised to keep watch. She manages to keep her eyes open for another two hours before waking Lexa once more. 

The second time Raven wakes, it’s dawn and she’s alone under the blankets. 

She turns her head to see the Commander is smearing war paint over her eyes. She is readying for battle. Every glimpse of personality that Raven witnessed last night is being hidden under a mask of indifference. 

"Don’t - " Raven says before she can stop herself.

Lexa’s hand falls from where it was. Her war paint is incomplete. She turns to look at Raven.

"Don’t disappear entirely, okay?" Raven asks shyly. 

Raven’s prepared to be mocked or scolded, but not for Lexa’s equally bashful smile. “I’ll try not to.”


	19. Touch - Monroe/Octavia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111494659386/19-touch)

They’re warriors, so it’s natural that they became close quickly; they have to understand each other to survive. Octavia doesn’t know a single thing about Monroe’s life or family or even her favourite colour, but she knows how to read her on the battlefield like an open book and that’s more important than any trivial detail. It feels  _intimate_ and so, when the touching begins, it seems like a natural progression.

Monroe falls; Octavia reaches for her. Monroe passes Octavia food; their fingers brush. They lie in the bushes, ready for an ambush; their shoulders press together. They keep touching, sometimes casually, sometimes tactical… and sometimes, neither. 

Octavia thinks nothing of it, but everyone’s round the fire one evening at the Dropship and she’s deep in conversation with Clarke, when Monroe walks past and reaches out to brush the back of Octavia’s neck. 

Clarke pauses mid-sentence.”What was that?”

"What?" Octavia asks, looking around the camp.

"Monroe just touched you."

"Yeah? We’re friends… or something like friends. I guess. What does it matter?"

"Huh," Clarke says. "I guess I just didn’t realise you were that close."

Octavia shrugs. She looks across to Monroe, who’s just sat down between Glass and Fox. Monroe catches her eye across the fire and smiles. Octavia feels her heart clench. The ones that have yet to fight don’t understand the complex connection between warriors; they could misconstrue the touches between her and Monroe if they’re not careful. She will keep her distance. 

Her resolve only lasts a few days and it takes more concentration than she thought possible. But when Monroe is shot by a Grounder arrow, Octavia follows her instincts; she runs over and lets her hands check Monroe’s body for other injuries. 

"I’m okay," Monroe insists. 

"It hit your arm," Octavia says, tracing around the red gash on Monroe’s bicep. 

"I’ll live."

Octavia catches Monroe’s gaze, about to challenge her, when Monroe breaks away to look at her arm pointedly: Octavia’s thumb is stroking her skin. Octavia moves her hand away as if burned.  _How did she not notice herself doing that?_

Monroe looks at her with confusion. “You haven’t done that in a while.”

Octavia glances sideways, makes sure everyone else is out of earshot. “People think it’s weird.”

"And since when have you cared what other people think?"

Octavia opens her mouth to argue but she can’t find a single word. She closes it again. “Fair point.”

Monroe gives her a knowing smile and holds out her arm in invitation. Octavia takes it with a smile and tenderly wraps a bandage around the wound, letting her touch linger. 


	20. Quote (Unloving) - Costia/Lexa (Anya/Lexa)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Learn from the winter trees, the way_  
>  they kiss and throw away their leaves,  
> then hold their stricken faces in their hands  
> and turn to ice;
> 
>  
> 
> from [Unloving](http://growing-orbits.tumblr.com/post/36518636508/unloving-learn-from-the-winter-trees-the-way) by Carol Ann Duffy
> 
> Costia/Lexa + Anya/Lexa
> 
> cw: death/mourning
> 
>  
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111591796876/20-quote-unloving)

They burn an empty pyre at Costia’s funeral. The Ice Nation did not return the body and for that Lexa swears she will give the same treatment to the Queen’s family when she takes her head. Lexa has been too merciful, but no more. She watches the fire until it burns to hot grey embers on the ground and the shy winter sun rises over the still village.

Costia loved the dawn. They used to watch it together sometimes. In the summer, they would sneak away before anyone else had risen and bathe in the lake, exchanging kissing under the pink sky. But this sky holds no warmth.

Anya comes to stand beside her. “You must learn from this.”

"What is there to learn?" Lexa asks bitterly. 

"How to unlove," Anya says. She tilts Lexa’s head towards the forest. 

"What am I looking at?"

She leans in close, whispers, “the winter trees.”

Anya leaves her side, but Lexa stays, staring at the empty branches until the meaning becomes clear. The night is setting once more by the time she understands, and she feels her bones turning to ice.


	21. Rarepair - Fox/Harper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fox/Harper (I saw [this gifset](http://the-100-femslash.tumblr.com/post/111676892415/merryveta-the-100-femslash-week-day-6-a-ship) and was sold)
> 
> idk what my tenses are doing or even what this fic is but tbh if your brain is still functional after [that promo](http://lesbianlexa.tumblr.com/post/111729647017/clonekhaleesi-yep-thats-the-whole-promo) then you’re lying
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111744305776/21-rarepair)

Fox has always had a crush on her best friend, Harper. It grew so naturally from their friendship that Fox didn’t even notice until Harper took interest in boys and Fox would have to watch jealously from the sidelines. At least nothing usually happened; for some reason the boys never saw in Harper what Fox did. She suspects that they mistook her guardedness for weakness, her quietness for lack of opinion, and her long hair as something to hide behind. They would use her for sex, but they never stayed long enough to see the Harper that Fox loves. 

Trying to impress a boy was what landed them in jail. Harper wanted to steal a little something to get the attention of the (not so) “bad boy” in class, and like a good friend, Fox went with her. And when they got caught and Fox spent day after day staring at the same wall, she had plenty of time to regret not telling Harper how she felt. 

The Ground was a blessing, or it would have been, if Harper hadn’t pretty much fallen off the Dropship straight into Jasper’s arms. Despite her resolve, Fox ends up walking the same path, supporting Harper as she trails after, and is rejected by, yet another boy. 

It comes to a head when Jasper does something extraordinarily stupid and heroic, and Harper, expecting to be recognised, goes to see him, only to be turned away. 

Harper comes to her tent that night in tears and Fox helps her through it, holding her, and suggesting that sometimes what you’re looking for is right in front of you all along.

Harper scoffs. “Right, like that’s ever true. I’m not even friends with any boys.”

Fox bites her tongue. She can’t tell Harper what her glances at girls mean; that’s something you have to work out on your own. “Then maybe stop looking, and love will find you.”

Harper dismisses this too, but Fox notices that her fascination with the disinterested Jasper lessens. 

Harper spends more time with friends, with  _Fox_ , and even more so at Mount Weather when there are few of them left and little to do. 

There’s some books in the dorm, and sometimes they spend their days, lazily stretched out on a bed reading. It’s an excuse for Fox to be close to Harper without Harper thinking anything of it. Every time their toes sometimes brush against each other, Fox nearly drops her book.

"I’ve been thinking…" Harper says carefully from behind her medical textbook, "about what’s right in front of me."

"Yeah?"

"I always thought it had to be boys."

Fox meets Harper’s gaze over their books, thankful that Harper can’t see the victorious grin on Fox’s face. 

Harper continues, more confidently, as if she’s seen something in Fox’s eyes that bolsters her, “I don’t think it has to be.”

Fox schools her face and puts down her book. She nods, and is proud that her smile is only half the size it wants to be. “Okay,” she says.

"Okay," Harper says. 

And that’s it, for a long time. Until the truth emerges about Mount Weather and they no longer have time for relaxed reading when they have to plan an escape. Fox doesn’t think Harper needs to be spending quite so much time with Jasper though. She watches these meetings from afar, mostly, and when she senses that there really is nothing between them anymore, she stands closer to listens, and understands this for that it is. Jasper is a clear thinker; he can get them out of here. And besides, there’s no room for old grudges when there’s a war on the horizon.

Harper is taken. For days and days, Fox urges her friends to do something, but it seems hopeless. Every night, she dreams of Harper, and wakes up gasping and crying with the thought of what they are doing to her. It’s only when Monty is taken too that Jasper takes matters into his own hands. 

Harper returns to them, shaken and broken, but worse, it’s like the Mountain Men took her spirit. No one comments when Harper sleeps in Fox’s bed that night. And Fox doesn’t question it when Harper places her lips against hers. 

"We’re going to get out of here," Fox whispers, "I promise."

In the old days, Harper would have argued, would have said it was her job to keep Fox safe, not the other way around, but there’s no fight left in her tonight. “Okay,” Harper says. 

Fox lays another kiss on her forehead and holds her in her arms like she has so many times before. She swears that no one will ever break Harper again, even if it means killing everyone in Mount Weather to do so. 


	22. Kid!fic - Octavia/Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thanks to the [Trigedasleng page](http://the100.wikia.com/wiki/Trigedasleng) @ The 100 Wikia for translating help but I apologise if the language is still patchy
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111798276451/22-kid-fic)

Raven is out searching for scraps from the Factory Station crashsite when she hears the shout.

"Hello?" she asks.

There’s silence. 

She tries again in Trigedasleng: “Hei?”

"Sis!" a little voice shouts. "Beja sis!" (Help! Please help!)

Grounder then. Raven grips her knife and approaches slowly. She rounds a large piece of metal to find a young girl no older than six struggling underneath some debris. 

The girl freezes and then starts babbling Trigedasleng in fear.

Raven tucks her knife away, and holds her hands up in a gesture of good will. “I’m not going to hurt you, okay?”

"Chon yu bilaik?" (Who are you?)

"I don’t speak your language…" Raven admits, and is stumped for a minute before she remembers that Octavia is just up the hill, practising her hunting. "But I know someone who does. I’ll get you free and then we’ll find your family okay?"

The girl looks confused. “Hon op?” (Find?)

"Yes. Yes, we’ll find them. Okay?"

"Okay," the girl says in broken English. 

"Okay. I’m Raven," she says pointing to herself. "You?" she asks.

The girl’s arms are buried but she nods and says, “Juni. Laik Juni.” (Juni. I am Juni.) 

"Nice to meet you, Juni. Let’s get you out of here." 

Raven sets about trying to prise the debris off the Juni’s body as painlessly as possible. It looks like she’s fallen through a sheet of metal through to whatever it was hiding underneath. Luckily, Raven bought tools. 

Once Juni is free, Raven lifts her out of the ditch and checks for injuries. She has a gash on her leg and a few bumps and scrapes but nothing that can’t be fixed. Juni is quiet as Raven carries her up the hill. 

"Octavia!" Raven shouts. "O!"

Juni clenches Raven’s jacket in fear.

"It’s okay," Raven assures her, "she’s my friend, she will help us… sis oso au." (help us out)

Juni settles a little, but she still stays close. If Raven spoke Trigedasleng she’d tell Juni about Octavia, how they are so similar they could be sisters, even down to the little braids in her hair. 

"O!" she tries again.

Octavia runs out of the forest with a spear at the ready. 

"Whoa!" Raven shouts, instinctively holding Juni closer as she squirms.

Octavia lowers the spear and runs towards them. “Raven? Are you okay? What’s - ? Who’s - ?”

"I found a Grounder girl in the crashsite," Raven explains, "her name’s Juni."

Juni kicks at the sound of her name, trying to escape Raven’s arms.

"Don’t - " Raven tries, "you’ll hurt your leg, stay - "

"Ste," (Stay) Octavia orders. Juni immediately stills; like she recognises the accent as homely or accepts Octavia as an authority. "Hei Juni," Octavia greets, but Raven can’t follow the Trigedasleng that comes next, it’s too fluent and too fast.

Juni keeps up though, she seems to ease with each word, and then eventually nods and responds in more Trigedasleng. 

Octavia frowns and places her hand on the girl’s head, soothing her. They talk some more in a whisper and Raven watches with interest.

When it looks like they’ve finished, Raven asks for a translation.

Octavia’s hand is still absent running across Juni’s brunette hair as she explains, “Juni was out on her first hunting trip. Her group came across the crash site and investigated. But when she got trapped she ordered her group to return with the hunt.”

"So they left her here?" Raven whispers in shock. She squeezes her arms around Juni protectively. "How long for?"

"A day," Octavia says, and her eyes say she does not approve. "The warriors are trained to follow their commanders from a young age. Tests are what make them strong." She looks down at Juni with a smile, "En yu laik yuj." (And you are strong)

Raven tears herself away from Octavia’s smile and starts thinking practically. “I have some water and snacks in my bag.”

Once Juni has eaten, she becomes much more talkative, albeit in a language Raven doesn’t understand. Raven uses a ribbon from Octavia’s hair to wrap around Juni’s leg and stem the bleeding. 

"Teina?" (Together?) Juni asks, glancing between Raven and Octavia.

"No." Octavia replies quickly and busies herself with putting away the water.

"What was that?" Raven asks.

Juni starts giggling. 

"Okay, seriously - What?" Raven asks Octavia again. 

Octavia sighs as she hands Raven’s rucksack back to her. “She asked if we were together.”

Raven blushes but luckily Octavia’s turned back to listen to Juni. 

"And now she’s sassing us," Octavia translate. 

Juni pitches up. “Sassing?” 

"Sha," (yes) Octavia says despondently. "Shof op." (Be quiet) But she shares a small smile with Raven as she says it. "We should go," she says to Raven and then translates for Juni.

Octavia keeps translating when it’s needed, but mostly Raven just lets them talk as they head towards Tondc. The laughter dies down the closer they reach the camp and they talk in whispers instead. Juni is currently on Octavia’s shoulder and is squirming slightly as if she wants to get down. 

"Everything okay?" Raven asks. 

"She’s nervous about going home," Octavia explains, but Juni argues over her and there’s several lines of quick Trigedasleng exchanged before Octavia can speak again to Raven. "She thinks she’ll be in trouble for getting help and for not returning anything of worth."

"I wouldn’t say that," Raven says with a smile, pulling out a jar from her backpack. She was going to take it back to Camp Jaha but Juni needs it more. She presses it into Juni’s hands. 

"Chit laik daun?" (What is that?) Juni asks, turning the jar over in her hands. 

"Oil," Raven says, but it’s a word that she doesn’t know how to translate, and by the look on Octavia’s face, she doesn’t either. 

Octavia uses a few words to explain to Juni. Eventually she must get it because she gets excited. “Fire?” she asks. “For longer?”

"Sha," (yes) Raven says. 

Juni says something with glee, and Raven doesn’t need Octavia to translate her joy. Her happiness is contagious and it’s easy to lean into Octavia’s side and laugh along with them on the return to camp. Juni insists on standing on her own two feet as the approach Tondc, so Raven and Octavia stand either side of her, letting her use them as a crutch.

The reaction is immediate as they enter Tondc, a couple of worried adults and young children run over. Octavia explains in hurried Trigedasleng what happened, but meanwhile Juni must be explaining the oil because the children all look to her in awe. 

"Yes," one of the adults says, in English, Raven assumes for her benefit, "that is much more valuable than meat. The Commander will be proud."

Juni grins up at them. “Ste?” (Stay?) she asks. 

It breaks Raven’s heart but they can’t get attached. Raven shakes her head and Juni’s smile fades. “We can visit?”

"Visit! Okay. You visit." 

They make sure Juni is seen by the healer and for her family to arrive, and when Juni is surrounded by loved ones, they take the chance to slip away. 

Raven stays close to Octavia as they walk back through the forest. It seems silent in a way it didn’t before. 

"She’ll be fine," Octavia says.

"Yeah," Raven replies, but she still feels uneasy.

Octavia slips her hand in Raven’s and squeezes reassuringly. No one has to know that Raven doesn’t let go.


	23. On The Ark - Anya/Clarke/Lexa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU in which Lexa is the popular girl at school (I’m a sucker for imagining our delinquents (and Grounders, apparently) at Ark!school so if it seems familiar it’s because [it is](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3272117/chapters/7182080)). Also the Lexa-likes-cooking headcanon started with [this silly thing I wrote about flour](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3272117/chapters/7413101) but godknows where it came from. (& I don’t know what ginger did wrong).
> 
> I got three requests for Anya/Clarke/Lexa so here’s one & there might be more later (hopefully an angsty one at that). You can still leave comments with your requests - [details here](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111868534541/only-six-days-left-if-youre-missing-your-ship).
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111894111106/23-on-the-ark)

The Masquerade Ball is in two weeks time and Clarke still doesn’t have a date. It’s not a big deal. She normally goes to these things solo, with Raven and Octavia by her side, and they have a good time… but normally, there’s no one that Clarke wants to ask.

Okay, that’s a lie; she’s always fancied Lexa (everyone fancies Lexa) but now Clarke has a class with her and Lexa knows who she is, she might actually have a chance this time.

Raven always teases Clarke that she only took the Cooking class to get close to Lexa but it’s useful to know all the ingredients they can grow on the Ark and their uses outside of medicine… it’s a bonus though, having Lexa there. It’s a small class, only six of them, and so every other week they have to pair up.

Clarke babbles nervously at first, but as soon as they’re planning the food, preparing the ingredients, and cooking, they seem to communicate almost wordlessly. She learns very quickly that Lexa is a pro; that she’s doing this class just to pass it, but she’s actually far more competent than she wants the teacher to believe. Clarke just learns to watch after a while, and learn from her instead of Mr Smith, and when Clarke screws up, Lexa glares but never shouts, and covers for her when Mr Smith comes around with his constant look of disapproval.

Their silent communication becomes so strong that one Thursday, when Mr Smith is circling around inspecting their dishes, Lexa jumps to stand behind Clarke and press something into the hands that are behind her back, before returning to stir the dish. Clarke doesn’t even have a moment to work out what it is before Mr Smith is rounding on them.

"I sure hope you girls aren’t using ginger," Mr Smith says.

Clarke looks towards the chopping board where the ginger was only moment ago. It must be what’s pressed into her palms. “Er, no, Mr Smith,” Clarke says. “We wouldn’t do that.”

"And why is that?"

Clarke freezes in fear. She has no idea. But Lexa calmly comes to the rescue with a detailed response about taste palettes or godknowswhat.

When Mr Smith has turned to interrogate the next pair, Clarke breaths a huge sigh of relief and turns to Lexa. “Thank you,” she says emphatically. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Lexa smiles. “I wasn’t going to lose my best sous-chef to ginger.”

But as kind as Lexa is in class (so much that Clarke can delude herself when their fingers brush that it might be more than  _kindness_ ), as soon their work is done, Lexa leaves with a brusque, “I have to meet Anya.”

She does it every day as far as Clarke can tell. Anya is a couple of years older than Lexa and lives next to her in D-block and wears even more eyeshadow than Lexa does. Anya is also devastatingly pretty.

Clarke once followed them halfway back to Mecha Station trying to work out if they were together or not but she can never tell; they’re not in any classes together, and she’s never heard rumour of them, but every day they walk to and from the classrooms with their heads pressed closely together. She doesn’t know who she’s more jealous of.

She gets to have Advance Biology with Anya. It’s a class as small as Cooking but Anya only ever talks in response to the teacher. Clarke spends most of the class watching Anya make notes with a frown of concentration and praying that Dr Tsing will ask Anya a question just so Clarke can hear the deep voice that she so rarely hears.

When Dr Tsing pairs them for a lab project, Clarke thinks she’ll finally be able to speak to her, like she had with Lexa, and better yet, find out what the hell is going on between Anya and Lexa. But… nothing. Anya is a closed book. She’s the quiet, mysterious, brooding type, it seems, that only comes to life when she’s talking to Lexa.

Clarke follows them again that night, down the busy hallway towards Mecha Station.

It’s getting weird. She knows it’s getting weird, but she’s fascinated. How come no one knows if Anya and Lexa are together or not? It’s high school. Shouldn’t everyone know everything?!

The next time Lexa rushes out of Cooking class, Clarke grabs her arm. It’s two days until the Masquerade Ball and she can’t stand it any longer. She’d much rather be rejected, and know the truth, then torture herself with not knowing. “Will you go to the Ball with me?” she asks in a hurry.

Lexa doesn’t look surprised by the question, but Clarke is surprised by her answer, when she answers casually, “Yes. Alright,” and then turns to leave again.

Clarke reaches for her and pulls her back round. “Wait. So… you’re not with Anya?” she says in confusion.

"Yes, I am."

"Oh. Okay," Clarke says, trying to process. "Maybe you misunderstood. I wasn’t asking to go as friends, or… whatever. I was asking as… more than friends."

"I understood."

"So you and  _Anya_ are just friends?” Clarke asks.

"No."

"Okay," Clarke says, "Now I’m just confused."

"I’d like to go with you, and her, together," Lexa says, "but as more than friends."

Clarke nods, trying to understand. “Huh.”

"Anya and I have a relationship that a lot of people don’t understand, but you can, if you want… Anya speaks highly of you."

Clarke blushes. “She does?”

Lexa smiles indulgently and offers Clarke her hand. “How about you join us for our walk?”


	24. Roadtrip (Rock Band AU) - Anya/Clarke/Lexa/Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anya/clarke/lexa/raven POLYAMOUROUS ROCK BAND AU AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
> 
> cw: swearing
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111977315766/24-roadtrip)

"I swear, this is the last time we play Canada," Anya complains, crossing the dark car park to their van, with an amp in each hand. "It’s fucking freezing up here."

"We take gigs where we can find them, A," Raven says from the back of the van, where she’s trying to make her drum kit as small as possible. "And you know it."

It’s true. They can barely rub two coins together as it is. 

Clarke hefts her guitar up to Raven who helps slide it into place at the side. “At least people are nice here,” Clarke says. 

“‘Nice,’” Anya huffs.

Lexa hums in agreement from where she’s tucked behind the wheel, studying the map. “You’re only saying that because the owner of this place - “

"Octavia," Raven pitches in, drawing the name out with a restrained amount of mockery in her voice.

”- bought you a drink.”

"It was innocent," Clarke dismisses, jumping up into the van to help Raven move the equipment.

Clarke’s pretty sure they’re all exchanging looks with one another, but it’s Anya that speaks: “If a girl asks if you’re single, it’s not innocent.”

"Agreed," the others chime in.

Clarke drops the coverlet she’s holding in exasperation, “And what was I meant to tell her? That I’m sleeping with all three of my bandmates?”

Lexa shrugs. “It’s 2015. If they don’t like it, screw ‘em.”

"See," Raven says, shutting the van doors and collapsing on the blankets. "It’s that kind of attitude that gets us banned from shopping malls."

"And bars," Clarke adds.

Anya nods. “And that one McDonalds in Montana - “

"Alright!" Lexa says, holding her hands up, dropping the map in the process. She turns round from the seat to look at her bandmates sprawled around the back of the van, surrounded by musical instruments, bags of half-eaten chips, and their sparse belongings. "I admit fooling around with Anya in the McDonalds restrooms was… unwise," she says, kicking her feet up on the dash. "If only because we had to leave my Happy Meal toy behind."

Clarke laughs. 

"What?" Lexa asks, throwing a peanut in the air and swallowing it effortlessly, "I’m the youngest in the group, I’m allowed to be immature." 

"Yeah but if I remember correctly," Raven says, leaning over the seat to steal a handful of nuts, "that toy was for Anya, the  _eldest_  in the group.”

They turn towards Anya, but she just shrugs. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t all play with the damn thing too.”

"It was meant to  _fly_ ,” Raven says, “We had to see if it worked.”

Clarke nods, faux-serious. “Health and safety.” 

"Whatever," Anya says, giving Clarke’s arm a playful slap on her way to the front. She jumps over the seat effortlessly and takes the map out of Lexa’s hands. "What’s the plan then? Motel?"

Clarke sighs. “I hate to tell you, but it’s past midnight, we only got a hundred dollars between us, and we’ll have to get gas soon…”

"Yeah, but we just got paid," Raven says."How much was it in the end?"

Lexa pulls the cash out from the glove box and shows it to her. “Sixty.”

"What?! Only sixty?!" Raven exclaims. She tries to take the money from Lexa’s hand, but Lexa pulls her hand back and snags a kiss instead.

Raven steps away with an amused smile and Lexa puts the money back with a sigh. “We knew it depended on turnout, and turnout wasn’t great…”

"Better than nothing," Clarke says, trying to lift the spirit.

Anya shakes her head. “We can’t keep going on that much. I need new strings, we need that amp looking at, we need to eat a decent meal, we need the gas to get to…wherever the hell we’re - “

"Oakville," Lexa supplies.

"Right, Oakville…"

Raven huffs. “It even sounds like there’s nothing there.  _Great_.”

"It has a population of 180 thousand," Clarke mutters under her breath. 

"Nerd," Raven says, sitting down beside her with an affectionate nudge. 

"The point is," Anya says, "we’re not gonna be able to afford motels again any time soon."

It’s true. They’ve been kipping in the back of the van a lot recently, using public restrooms to wash in, and making do with what they can. They could all do with a break though, what Clarke wouldn’t do to give her girlfriends a fancy three course meal and a comfy bed to sleep in.  

Clarke slumps back against the bag of clothes that Raven is already leaning against, and rests her head against her shoulder. 

Lexa only lets them stew in their dejection for a moment before she’s jumping over the seat, bringing Anya with her, so they’re all in the back of the van again. “Well, you know what I say?” she asks, looking around the small smelly well-worn space as if she’s seeing heaven. “Home, sweet home.” 

Lex flops down on the blankets with a dramatic sigh and a big grin, spreading her arms out in invitation. 

Anya laughs and joins her, “At least one of us is an optimist,” she says, kissing Lexa on the cheek as she lies beside her.

"Oh, she’s not an optimist," Clarke says, raising from her spot, and holding out her hand for Raven to take. "She’s  _drunk_.”

"I’m  _happy_ ,” Lexa argues. She pulls Clarke down for a passionate kiss with perfect finesse. “See? Not drunk.”

Clarke falls down the rest of the way onto the blankets, pillowing her head on Lexa’s shoulder. Raven reaches up to turn off the interior lights and then lies down beside them.

Raven spoons in close behind Clarke, nuzzling into her hair. “As long as we’re together, right?” she asks, looking over Clarke’s shoulder to see Anya and Lexa.

"Exactly," Lexa says. The seriousness has crept back into her voice, "As long as we have this… as long as you’re all here, and happy, and healthy… I’m happy." 

"Okaaaaaay," Anya says with a dramatic sigh, "that’s enough sap for one evening. Get some rest, you nerds."

Clarke laughs and pulls the coverlet over them. And, yeah, she thinks, she wouldn’t trade this for anything.


	25. Arranged Marriage - Lexa/Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa/Raven for [this anon](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111875448861/please-do-another-lexa-raven-cause-theres-no). I was gonna do angsty but then… I’m weak. Here’s some fluff.
> 
> cw: blood/gore, swearing, alcohol 
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/112072793121/25-arranged-marriage)

"You can't be serious," Raven says. 

She looks around the meeting room, from Abby to Kane to Jaha to Bellamy, but no one seems to be laughing. She turns to Clarke; her final hope.

Clarke sighs. "It's a peace offering."

"A peace offering?!" Raven exclaims. "She killed Finn!"

"Exactly," Abby says.

Raven gestures for her to explain herself and quickly before she punches another hole in the wall of the Ark.

Abby rolls her eyes. "See it from their point of view. Lexa's identified you as the biggest threat to their peace - "

"Damn right," Raven mutters.

"- so by marrying you," Abby says, talking over her, "not only does she form a formal alliance with our people, but she also eliminates a threat."

Jaha crosses his arms. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"You can't fault her logic," Kane agrees.

Raven shakes her head. This is ridiculous. "How does she know I won't kill her in her sleep?"

Abby's jaw clenches. Bellamy smirks. Clarke steps in, ever the peacemaker. "Please... don't?"

Raven shakes her head. "Unbelievable," she says under her breath.

Bellamy says, "Look I know it's a crappy situation, and no one's gonna force you into anything - "

The adults look like they want to interject but they're also not stupid enough to try.

"- but it's our best shot at an alliance, our best shot at getting our people out of Mountain Weather."

Raven protests for a while longer, but it was that line that sold it to her, really. She can play her part if it means saving forty seven of their people; her friends. She can at least sleep beside Lexa until her people are safe, and then she'll stick a knife in her neck.

-

The Grounder marriage ritual is  _weird;_  all beating drums and hand holding and a fire that's meant to symbolise kindling love that only makes Raven want to push Lexa into it. She might not mind all the dramatics so much if Lexa also showed some signs of nerves - or a personality - but she goes through the wedding as stoically as ever.

They stand in front of Indra as she performs the ceremony. Raven stands opposite Lexa and feels her staring at her bowed head. They're both covered in ceremonial tribal ink and dressed in the nicest clothes their people could scrounge together. Lexa looks good, but Raven pretends not to notice.

They have to kiss to seal the deal, and although Raven's stomach betrays her with butterflies, Lexa just performs perfunctorily. She even manages to look angry as she pecks Raven's lips. 

When it's over, and people have begun to mingle, getting ready for the dance, Raven heads straight for the alcohol. 

Clarke pulls the bottle from her lips.

"What?" Raven splutters.

"It's a day of political negotiation. You shouldn't get drunk."

"I just got married," Raven says, snatching the wine back, "I need to get drunk."

Clarke doesn't pull the bottle back, but she does place her hand over Raven's. "Later," she says.

Raven's hand shakes a little at the thought. Of course, they'll probably be expected to consummate the marriage tonight. She'll need alcohol to relax her then. She swears under her breath, takes one more swig, then gives the bottle back to Clarke.

-

The first dance is awkward, mostly because Raven doesn't want to follow Lexa's lead, but has been instructed to. If there's one surefire way of making sure Raven Reyes doesn't do something, it's telling her to. The Grounders are singing something in Trigedasleng and playing their drums to a slow beat. It's only when Lexa looks at Raven with pleading eyes, that Raven understands how embarrassing it must be for her. She's the Commander; she's meant to lead. Raven sighs dramatically, and then lets herself be led. Lexa's not a bad dancer as it turns out. When others join them, Raven knows she could leave, but Lexa seems to loosen up with each turn, and Raven's curious. By the third song, Lexa is letting Raven spin her, and comes back into her arms with a look softer than a glare, when Lexa takes her waist this time, she can almost convince herself it's because she wants to. 

-

When Raven watches her people go back to the Ark, it hits her. That she's really traded it in. This is her home now... this tent in the woods. No friends. No engines to fix. Just...a wife. 

She takes a swig of whatever alcohol she's holding and lets Lexa steer her away. The Grounders part for them as they walk towards Lexa's tent. 

There are a few candles lit around them. Lexa lies on her bed. Raven hovers nearby. When Lexa says nothing, Raven begins to pace. 

"Will you stop that?" Lexa says.

Raven throws her arms in exasperation. "What would you like me to do? You won't talk to me, hell, you don't even look at me, and you know what we  _should_  be doing, but we're not doing that either."

"Do you want to do that?" Lexa asks, she seems genuinely curious.

"No!" Raven exclaims, "I mean... no. I don't even know you."

Lexa shrugs. "Our alliance is a strategic one. I won't ask anything of you that you don't want to give."

"Little late for that," Raven mutters. 

Lexa sits up on the edge of the bed. "We both want to end the bloodshed between our people. Is this so bad as a solution?"

"No..." Raven says, feeling guilty for even complaining. "Never mind."

Raven lies down on the far end of the bed. The alcohol and the stress is catching up with her, she's sleepy, and Lexa doesn't seem to mind. She sleeps.

-

When she wakes, Lexa is gone, already at negotiations at the Ark. Raven is a little hurt that she wasn't invited. Nyko comes to find her, feed her, and show her around Tondc. 

"And, this," he says, walking towards the edge of the woods, "is yours."

Raven follows his eyeline to see a small wooden shed, but, more than that, it's surrounded by metal and by tech. It looks like things they've found from crashsites. Raven's jaw drops. 

"The Commander thought you might like it."

"I..." Raven starts. She's already picking through the trove of broken bits, working out what she can build from the parts. "Yeah..." she says. She doesn't even notice Nyko leaving until she's taking the back off an old screen. "Huh," she says. Maybe living here won't be so bad. 

-

Raven only leaves her new workshop when the sun sets. She should have thought of setting up a light with the solar panel she found, or at least have made a fire torch, but she was too busy working on something that could disable the toxic fog. She's so excited about her design that she just needs to tell someone about it and walks into Lexa's tent - hers too, now, she supposes - and just starts talking. Lexa looks up from whatever she's doing on the desk and  _listens_. She doesn't seem to enjoy it, but she doesn't ask Raven to stop either. 

After Raven's finished rambling, she smiles. "I'm glad you've made use of our resources."

"Yeah...  _technically_  though, I think they were ours that you stole."

"Technically."

Lexa's deadpan response startles a laugh out of Raven. 

Lexa smiles again and slides a piece of paper towards Raven. "Clarke wrote down some things your people need, if you have the time."

Raven's eyes roam over the list. "Yeah, should be doable, but there's a couple of things from the Ark I'll need. Most of my tools are still there, and a couple of parts. Wick will know them if I write you a list."

Lexa nods. "Okay."

It's not until that night when Raven's awake listening to Lexa's quiet breathing that she realises she's basically agreed to  _move all of her things here_.

-

Things are uneventful for a while; Lexa spends the days planning a war and Raven spends the days building for a war. They spend most of the evenings together. When it's just them in their tent, Lexa seems to be herself more. Raven tells her about living on the Ark, Lexa teaches her Grounder games, and they gradually seem to sleep closer and closer together. 

-

Then, the Mountain Men send assassins. 

Raven hears the commotion and drops her tools, running into the centre of Tondc, there are Grounders arriving on horseback with a body in one of their arms. With dread, Raven realises that the body is the Commander's. Nyko pushes past her to reach for Lexa. The Grounders talk quickly in Trigedasleng. Raven recognises a few words: hurt, warrior, blood: it's enough to make Raven sick with worry. She runs towards them, "What is it? What - ?"

Lexa's shoulder is red with blood. Her eyes are closed. Nyko carries Lexa into the tent, Raven hurrying after them. She knows it's selfish, but she wishes Clarke was here; Clarke can fix anything. She sits nearby as Nyko strips Lexa of her clothes and applies pressure to the wound. Lexa moans. Raven clenches her fist. 

Nyko studies the wound. "There's a bullet. I'll have to extract it."

Raven closes her eyes. She knows how much that hurts. She takes Lexa's limp hand in hers and nods at Nyko to continue. 

Lexa is still. She must have passed out. Good. It's better that way. Raven watches Nyko work and regrets her earlier doubts; he's just as competent as Clarke. She needs to trust the Grounders more. They're her people now too. 

He's stitching her up when he catches Raven's gaze. "You have taken a liking to the Commander," he says, nodding towards where their hands are still joined, "I am glad for it."

Raven's about to drop her hand when Lexa stirs awake. Raven's heart starts beating again. "Hey," she says, with a strained smile. "You had me worried."

Lexa just hums and turns her head to look at Raven. "Tired."

"Okay," Raven says, reaching out to stroke Lexa's hair just as her eyes begin to shut again, "get some rest."

Nyko leaves them shortly afterwards. Once he's gone, Raven lies down beside Lexa, careful not to jostle her, but she wakes anyway.

Lexa smiles at her, more open than Raven's ever seen before. "You're here."

"'Course I am," Raven says, unable to resist curling Lexa's hair behind her ear.

Raven didn't realise how close they were lying until Lexa's nose brushes against hers, and then moments afterwards, her lips. Raven's breath catches in her throat. They haven't kissed since their wedding months ago, and even then, it wasn't like this. This is... tender. Raven cradles Lexa's face in her palms and returns the gentle kiss. 

Lexa smiles and pulls away. "Knew you liked me," she says. 

"You're so fucking high right now," Raven says with a loving smile.

-

When she wakes, Raven expects things to return to normal, but instead, there's a Commander Warrior watching her wake with wide, adoring eyes. 

"Morning?" Raven asks.

"Hello." Lexa smiles.

"How are you feeling? How's your shoulder?"  _How's your memory?_  Raven bites back on asking.

"Fine," Lexa says. "I might go for a walk later, see how it fares. Do you want to come with me?"

It takes Raven a moment to process what Lexa is saying and even when she has, she's not sure if she believes it. "Are you asking me on a date?!"

"I believe that's what your people do? Clarke said - "

"Of course she did," Raven mutters. "And what? I suppose your people just blackmail people into marrying them and then hope they fall madly in love?"

Lexa raises an eyebrow. "In love, huh?"

Raven would hit Lexa with a pillow if she wasn't recovering from a shooting. "Shut up," she says instead, and feels the blush on her cheeks. 

Lexa laughs. It's still such a rarity for Raven to hear it that the simple sound fills her with joy. 

"Is that a yes then?" Lexa asks.

"To what?" 

"The  _date_ ," she says with a teasing voice.

Raven covers her face with her hands, trying to stop the giddiness that wants to spill over. Once her face is schooled to a reasonable level of delight, she pulls her hands down. "Yes," she says, "Yes."


	26. Lost Together - Fox/Maya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fox/Maya for [this anon](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/111886172091/i-love-how-dedicated-you-are-to-filling-all-the)
> 
> (this assumes Maya has had the treatment btw)
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/112171533131/26-lost-together)

Escaping Mount Weather is their first priority. The army are still in the building, but Clarke’s message was clear:  _Get out. Get safe._

Maya just hopes some of her people made it. It’s a cruel irony that, for the most part, the good people that helped were also the ones that refused treatment; the ones that died as soon as the outsiders opened the door.

There’s no time to think about it, just as there’s no time to revel in glory of the outside world. It’s full of strange sights and smells and sounds; things she’d only read about in textbooks or heard rumours about from the guards. 

She’s so used to walking on even ground, she trips, several times, but a girl - Fox - keeps pulling her back up again and urging her on.

Everyone else is disappearing from sight; running faster than Maya can manage.

"You should go!" she tells Fox, "leave me!"

"No," Fox insists, "You don’t know where the Dropship is."

Maya doesn’t even know what a Dropship  _is_ , but it’s where the survivors have been told to meet. She’s suddenly, deeply afraid that Fox will leave. She’s surrounded by trees and tracks and they all look the same to her. How can anyone navigate through this?

Not easily, it seems. Maya realises Fox is lost when their pace slows to a crawl.

"What is it?" Maya asks.

"I thought - " Fox says, spinning around on the spot, frown lines gaining with every rotation "- I thought there was a path here. There  _should_  be a path here. I - “

"Okay," Maya says, attempting to swallow her growing panic, "Maybe it’s grown over or hidden or - "

"The others should already have been here," Fox says. "It should be clear."

She has a point. “Okay,” Maya says again, not sure how to make this better.

Fox gnaws on her lip. “It should be here,” she repeats. She turns to Maya, face laden with guilt, “I’m sorry, Maya. I’m really sorry. I think we’re lost. I - “

Maya gently puts her hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay.”

Fox smiles, immediately reassured. This is what she needs, Maya realises, just some encouragement. 

"We still have a couple hours before nightfall, right?" Maya asks, she knows how they measure time in the Mountain but she’s not sure if it corresponds to reality.

Fox looks up to the clear sky. “Yeah, I think so…”

"Then there’s no reason to panic."

"Right," Fox nods, but she sounds unconvinced.

"You’ll figure it out."

Fox looks to her with disbelief. “I will?”

"You will."

Fox smiles, and with more confidence than she’s shown in anything else. “Okay,” she says, seemingly to bolster strength from the words. “If it’s the path I think it is, they’ll be a rock over there - ” she points towards the distance, “but can you stay while I check? I don’t want to lose this junction.”

"Okay," Maya says.

Fox turns and takes a few steps away. The clearing suddenly seems a lot more intimidating without company. The tall trees pressing in around her.

"Hurry," Maya adds. "Please?"

Fox nods and runs into the forest.

Maya doesn’t take her eyes off her. There’s so much to look at in the forest, but it scares her as much as it intrigues her. This new world is unknown, all except for Fox.

Just when Fox is beginning to disappear from sight and Maya twitches with fear, her head appears again between the trees. “I found it!” she shouts. “I was right!”

Maya grins and runs to catch up. There’s a clearer path up ahead now.

Fox is brimming with confidence. “I knew it!” she says, “The others must not have used this shortcut. We might even be the first there! C’mon!”

She grabs Maya’s hand and excitedly pulls her towards the Dropship and the new life that awaits them.


	27. Dancing - Clarke/Lexa + Clarke/Octavia (Clarke/Octavia/Lexa)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a fill of sorts for Jaltax but I kinda took the [prompt](http://archiveofourown.org/comments/24380519) and ran with it (sorry!) because [ot9_forever](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ot9_forever/pseuds/ot9_forever) had a [similar idea](http://archiveofourown.org/comments/24387299) about Lexa wanting Clarke for herself and I am 200% here for jealous!Lexa and then, combined with today’s femslash feb prompt of dancing, the result is apparently…
> 
> a **Dance Movie AU**. I wish I could say it’s the crackiest thing I’ve ever done, but that’s a lie, in fact I’m amazed that I _haven’t_ done this before. (I’ve done my best to make this understandable for those uninitiated in the glory of dance movies and ballroom dancing, but there’s a particular dance that you might want context for and it’s linked at the bottom if you’re interested.) Enjoy?
> 
>  
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/112257521586/27-dancing)

It’s the State ballroom dancing competition and the stakes are high. Clarke knows that many of the judges here are also on the panel for the dance academy she wants to attend when she graduates. She needs to make an impression. 

She’s spent months rehearsing and carefully choosing the right partner for each dance. Most of her competitors stick to the same partner, an all-rounder, but Clarke needs to trust that each dance is the best that it can possibly be. 

Wells is the obvious choice for the slow waltz; he’s measured and controlled and he never leaves their routine. It’s an elegant dance and they place second. It’s a good start. Three more dances like that, hopefully with some new moves that intrigue the judges, and she’ll be done. 

There is an audible gasp when Clarke re-enters the dancefloor for the foxtrot, but with a woman on her arm. This is the first year they’ve allowed same-sex dance partners to enter, and Clarke intends to show them exactly why they should. 

The foxtrot is fast, and she needs a quick-thinker, someone that she can trust to adapt to a change instinctively. Lexa was her choice. Lexa’s hair is pinned up and she wears a sleek black dress. The black suit jacket that Wells wore earlier, sits across her shoulders, with their entry number is pinned to the back of the fabric. Lexa looks  _good_. And aesthetically, Clarke knows it contrasts to the bright red of her own gown. 

The mutters of the audience die down as the band start playing. Lexa looks to Clarke, gives her the smallests of nods:  _We can do this_.

There’s a few alterations to the planned foxtrot in the moment but it goes well, even better than Clarke anticipated. They get called to return to the dancefloor with a handful of other partners, but do not place. It’s a letdown but on some level Clarke knew the foxtrot wasn’t her best, that they didn’t have anything new to bring, but there’s still two more dances to make a name for herself. 

Lexa squeezes her hand in apology as they leave the dancefloor. Octavia glares daggers at them. Clarke assures herself that after the competition that she’ll sort it out; she’ll pick one of them before they tear each other down… but, not now. Now she has to focus. 

It’s time for the Viennese Waltz. It’s another fast dance, one that consists only of endless turns and change steps. It requires a dance partner with attitude but perfect timing. Bellamy takes the jacket from Lexa and leads Clarke to the dance floor. But… it’s a disaster. Clarke must have let her thoughts of Lexa and Octavia distract her because she misses a step, and then another, and it’s enough to make Bellamy anxious enough that he also screws up and nearly misses her on a quick rotation. She’s dizzy, and not in an ecstatic successfully completed triple-turn way, but one of dizzying failure. They salvage it enough not to be completely embarrassing but they don’t get called back and neither of them are surprised. 

He tries to apologise as they walk from the dancefloor towards their seats, but Clarke won’t hear it. It wasn’t his fault. But there’s now only one dance left to save her: the tango with Octavia. Will it be enough to make her memorable to the judges? She doubts it, and Clarke’s beginning to entertain a very, very, stupid idea. 

Octavia takes the jacket, wears it over her silver dress, and holds her arm out to Clarke. Octavia is the perfect partner for a tango, with sharp movements and enough cheekiness to thrill the audience. Admittedly, it also gets Clarke’s blood pumping in not completely innocent ways. As good as it looks for the spectators though, their tango is ultimately a safe routine. It’s enough to get them called back to the dancefloor, but with two other couples that Clarke knows will outstrip them if she doesn’t do something.

Nervously, Clarke downs what remains in her wine glass and by the time it’s empty, she’s convinced herself of that very, very, stupid idea.

Octavia holds out her arm again and Lexa stiffens noticeably but Clarke leans down and whispers in Lexa’s ear the codeword for her Plan B. This time it’s Octavia that bristles at the closeness, but Clarke need only wait for Lexa’s blink of understanding, before she’s in Octavia’s arms, being led to the dance floor. 

As soon as they’re under the lights, Clarke whispers the word to Octavia too.

"Are you serious?" Octavia hisses. "She’ll screw it up! We haven’t done that routine in months, and it was  _once_ , as a joke, we can’t possibly improvise - “

The announcer is starting to talk over the tannoy. They don’t have long. 

"We have to try, O," Clarke urges. "It’s the last dance. They won’t remember me as it is, but this way they might."

"All or nothing," Octavia says, catching on. "You’re insane."

"Thank you."

"Wasn’t meant to be a compliment," Octavia mutters as settle into their starting position. She glances over Clarke’s shoulder to their table. "You seriously trust her enough to do this?"

Clarke closes her eyes. Takes a deep breath. “I trust you  _both_  to do this.”

The band starts up. Octavia nods, holding her gaze not with Clarke, but with Lexa over her shoulder. 

"Okay," Octavia says, and then she confidently leads Clarke into the first move. 

Octavia may claim not to remember the routine, but from the sure way she moves across the dance floor, Clarke is certain that she has the entire dancehall convinced otherwise. The American style allows them so much freedom that they’re already being far more daring than the two other couples on the dancefloor. Clarke’s never been afraid to incorporate moves from other styles into her dancing and this is no exception, there’s definitely some salsa in some spins and some foxtrot in some turns. It’s going well and then the signal comes… Clarke walks backwards: one, two, three steps and - 

Lexa comes up behind her, jealously tearing her away from Octavia’s arms into hers. It’s planned but the routine is rough enough that it feels spontaneous and Clarke knows there’s enough competition between them that every tug and turn is a very real play for dominance. The dance is so fast that her red dress is a blur between their dark clothes as she moves between them. They understand each other so well that each move masterly blends into the next. Lexa and Octavia may not dance together often, but they’ve both watched the other with Clarke often enough that they know each other’s body language, and the two leads anticipate each other and give clear enough signals that it’s easy for Clarke to follow, even as they improvise from their already experimental routine. They’re having  _fun_ , Clarke realises, and she is too. She allows herself to add new flourishes, some riskier than others, but all of them pay off. 

Clarke’s so engrossed in their creation that she wouldn’t have known the final move was coming until Lexa and Octavia press in from each side. Clarke recognises he signal for what it is, moving into their rehearsed final position, with her resting precariously against both of them. They stay frozen in place until the last note of the band fades. Clarke closes her eyes, her loud heartbeat and quick breaths drowning out everything else.  _Please, please, please…_

The room bursts into applause. Clarke tears her eyes open. She hears a few hollers from her table, but her friends are not the only ones on their feet: there’s high applause and excited whispers from every corner of the dance hall, including the judges’ table. Clarke laughs in giddy relief. The risk paid off. 

Lexa and Octavia lift her from her position and keep holding her hands as they take a bow. The applause continues and after another bow, Clarke can’t stand the formality anymore, and excitedly pulls Lexa and Octavia towards her with each of her arms, and places a messy kiss on both of their heads.

In the background, she hears the judges announce the scores. Their hug breaks apart as they turn towards the judges, but it doesn’t matter what the judges have to say; it doesn’t matter if her group is disqualified or not, if they won, it doesn’t even matter if the judges will remember Clarke in a few months time when she is dancing for them again at the audition, because Clarke can still feel Octavia’s hand in hers and Lexa pressed against her side and knows that she’s danced the best dance of her life. Everything else is secondary. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inspiration for the three-way tango is of course from [this amazing scene](http://youtu.be/HMIXtD6-WSE) in Take The Lead, but also check out this bit from [Tango: Maureen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0QfCIQgD94#t=159) from RENT


	28. Friends To Lovers - Octavia/Raven (+Clarke)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a fill for CMill who wanted “an au where Raven was the spacewalker locked up” because YES [[x](http://archiveofourown.org/comments/24382796)] (this means I’ve made Raven 17, not 18, so she takes the fall instead of Finn)
> 
> Octavia/Raven
> 
> cw: swearing & prison stuff in general
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/112344909581/28-friends-to-lovers)
> 
> this is the last day of [the-100-femslash fic challenge](http://the-100-femslash.tumblr.com/post/109795013900/do-you-write-fics-do-you-love-the-100-are-you-a) but I do have a couple of bonus ficlets coming up. thank you to everyone that read, kudos'd, commented and/or prompted. it’s been a blast.

Raven is assigned a corner cell when the guards lock her up. At first, this doesn’t mean anything to her - a cell is a cell is a cell - until she realises that it affords her a view of the entire floor. She can look up and speculate the use of all the pipes along the ceiling, and look down and watch the delinquents on exercise break in the centre, and look across at all the others on her floor as they pace in their cells. After a while, she beings to pair these faces with the children she remembers disappearing years ago.

But a corner cell, also allows her a view of the cell perpendicular to hers, whereas everyone along the walls are afforded no such luxury. It’s occupied by the infamous Second Child - Octavia - the girl whose only crime was being born. 

Raven’s heard rumours and expected the girl that was raised under floorboards to be quiet and shy, but Raven’s only been occupying her cell for five minutes when she’s proved otherwise and a loud swear comes from Octavia’s cell.

Raven leaps up from her bed towards the bars. Octavia is pressed against her own cell, looking down at the arena below where a few inmates play basketball surrounded by heavily armed guards.

"What? What is it?" Raven says in a panic.

Octavia groans, banging her head against the bars. “Miller’s team just lost another goal. Dammit.”

Raven looks back down to the game. She hadn’t realised that the players were taking it seriously but now that Octavia mentions it, she can see that the boys below are not messing around: their movements are deliberate. Raven looks around their floor but no one else seems to be watching apart from a blonde opposite them.

"Is this a… thing?" Raven asks curiously. "Betting on other floors’ exercise time?"

"Newbie, one thing you gotta learn early on: you make your own entertainment."

Octavia cheers as someone scores a goal and it’s followed by a groan from the blonde across the floor. “Suck it, Griffin!” Octavia shouts. The blonde is too far away to be sure, but Raven thinks she sees a middle finger being raised.

"Anyway," Octavia says to Raven, her eyes not leaving the game, "the guys don’t know we do this. We never even see them… how would they?" she says wistfully. "But Clarke’s fun to wind up and I like a good bet so…"

"Clarke’s the one across the way?" Raven asks, pointing at the blonde.

"Yeah," Octavia says, "the Councilwoman’s daughter. If she wins, I give her chalk and she disappears for a few days, and if I win, I get  _chocolate_.”

A shared love of chocolate is enough for Octavia to take Raven under her wing the first few days of imprisonment and shows her all the secrets to keeping sane.

On the second day when they’re due an exercise break, Raven is eager to see what Octavia does. They’re escorted down the three other floors, and instead of picking up the ball, or talking to Clarke, like Raven expected, Octavia starts jogging around the confined space.

Raven doesn’t feel like she was invited to join, so instead she picks up a chess board in the corner and checks its pieces. Clarke joins her after a while, and starts moving the white pieces opposite Raven’s black. Raven must have been watching Octavia run because Clarke follows her gaze.

"Yes," Clarke says, "she does this every time. Don’t talk to her when she’s running, you’ll regret it," and then she moves a pawn on the board.

Raven distractedly moves a piece of her own. “I guess she likes her space, huh? After being confined for so long.”

"That’s the theory," Clarke says, and then chastises Raven for her next chess move, and the topic of Octavia is dropped.

Octavia still intrigues her though, and Raven spends her nights lying awake, trying to think of ways to get Octavia to open up to her. She’ll talk about this place to no end, but never about her life before. “There’s not much to say,” she brushes off every time they approach the topic.

Raven’s reading a science textbook on her bed when she hears a sharp “pssst” come from Octavia’s cell. She approaches the bars to see Octavia crouched in her cell, as close to Raven’s cell as possible. They normally stand further apart, so they can get a good look at each other despite the corner, but at this angle, Raven realises how close they really are. She can see a speck of dirt on Octavia’s wrist. Octavia’s eyeing the guard cautiously, but his back is turned, talking to an inmate a few cells down.

"Hey," she whispers, "I got you something. Gimme your hands."

Raven squeezes her hands through the bars and bends her wrist towards Octavia. She feels something metal being pressed into her hands. She pulls back, carefully, her eyes on the guard the whole time, and when the item is safely in her cell, opens her fingers to see a screwdriver in her hands.

“ _Shit_ , Octavia,” Raven hisses, “why the hell are you giving me this?”

"You could at least pretend to be grateful," Octavia bites back.

"If I get caught with this, they’ll float me," Raven insists, quickly hiding it under her pillow and then returning to the bars. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"You’re a mechanic, right?"

"Yeah," Raven says, "So what?"

"It’s good to have a currency here. You can fix things."

It makes a weird sort of sense, Raven has already heard a few delinquents complaining about loose screws on their bedframe and whatever else. If, during freetime, she could fix a few of these things, she’d have favours, and favours could mean getting messages to Finn. “And what’s your currency?” she asks.

"Knowing things, getting things, hiding things…" Octavia says with a smirk. "So find a place to keep your tools hidden and I’ll spread the word."

"Tools?" Raven asks. "Plural?"

Octavia smiles knowingly. “Maybe.”

Raven knows how prison works: there’s no such thing as something for nothing. “Why are you doing this?” Raven asks sceptically.

Octavia shrugs. “We were all new once,” she deflects.

Before Raven can press further, the guard does his round and Raven slinks away from the bars. Later that day, she uses the screwdriver to unhinge the sink from against the wall and places her singular tool behind it.

Octavia keeps her promise. A week later, a spanner is somehow acquired, and then a ball of string, and scissors. All of these things are a punishable offence. Raven should know better; she could get floated for this, but she finds it hard to say no to Octavia, and the tasks she’s doing are gaining her favours. She repays Octavia when she can, and maybe that’s all Octavia was hoping for by providing her with tools in the first place.

There’s no privacy in the prison. It’s a fact that Raven got used to quickly. She knows which delinquents are hooking up and the ones that have medical problems and she’s learnt how to use the shadow of her bed for modesty. But it doesn’t prepare for the day when a guard comes to Octavia’s cell next to hers, and quite plainly, loud enough for all the others to hear, informs Octavia that her brother is in MedBay.

Raven hears Octavia’s sharp intake of breath and approaches the bars, watching through them as the guard walks away as if he hasn’t just devastated a woman. The other inmates are pressed against their cells, watching the drama unfold with eager eyes. They’re bored, she knows, but it still feels cruel. 

"O?" Raven asks gently. "Are you okay?"

Octavia sniffs and then pushes herself away from the bars towards the back of her cell. 

Raven can see the corner of the bed, and sees Octavia lie atop it, her back to the peering eyes. She shivers minutely. Silently. Raven stays there, watching, long after the others have become disinterested. When they’re ordered to their beds that evening, Raven tries once last time, but Octavia is still unresponsive. With a sigh, Raven turns and lies on her bed, wishing with every passing second, that she could be lying with Octavia instead.

Raven wakes in the middle of the night to the sound of her name, broken and whispered. She tears out of bed towards the bars of her cell. 

Octavia is hunched in the corner closest to Raven, where they usually trade, but this time Octavia’s hands are empty as they bend towards Raven’s cell. Raven reaches out her own hands and takes Octavia’s shaking hands in her own. 

Octavia starts crying in earnest. Raven can’t hold her, but she can stroke her thumb across Octavia’s hand, comforting the only way she can think of. In the dead of night, Raven is the only one to witness Octavia’s collapse, the two guards on night duty are pacing other floors, and between the sniffles and snores of the hundred other inmates, no one will think anything of the noises coming from Octavia’s cell. 

They don’t say anything, but Raven holds Octavia’s hands until the guard reaches their floor, and Raven returns to bed, pressing her hand against the wall between her and Octavia, as if it will somehow make her closer again. 

The next morning, Octavia acts as if nothing happened, and for the most part, the delinquents follow her lead. During free time, a few of them are chatting by the railings when someone Raven doesn’t know comes over and starts acting like a dick to Octavia. Raven steps up, ready to put a fist between this girl’s eyes when Octavia turns and calmly puts her down with a single word that means nothing to Raven. The girl backs away with her tail between her legs.

"What was that about?" Raven asks.

"I told you," Octavia says. "I know everyone’s dirty secrets."

 _Including mine?_  Raven wants to ask, but really what dirty secrets does she have other than wanting to bang her nextdoor neighbour?

If Octavia’s cheeky wink is anything to go by, she knows exactly what Raven was thinking. 

That night, she hears Octavia’s now-familiar whispering of her name, and Raven sneaks out of bed towards the bars. “What is it?” she whispers.

Octavia looks unsure. It’s a look Raven isn’t used to seeing. 

"What?" Raven asks again.

"I need to know if I’m right about something," Octavia says warily. 

"And it couldn’t wait until morning?" Raven bites back, warily glancing around their floor, searching for guards. 

Octavia shakes her head. Raven startles when she sees Octavia’s hand rising and slowly pushing it through the bars. Raven watches every inch with baited breath. She thought last night was a one-off thing. A friends thing. A comfort thing.

Raven forgets how to breath when Octavia’s fingers finally brush against hers. She exhales shakily when Octavia’s thumb strokes across the inside of her palm. Raven pushes her hands closer towards Octavia’s, and this time, their hands don’t move in comfort, but in exploration, with pleasure as the sole goal. Raven feels every nerve in her hands come alight with Octavia’s gentle touch. She watches their hands twist together in fascination. 

"Octavia - " she breathes. 

"I need you," Octavia starts and Raven’s heartbeat picks up in anticipation, "to fix something."

Raven furrows her eyebrows in confusion. Is it a metaphor?

"I think my sink is broken."

Hopefully not a metaphor.

Octavia’s hands are still roaming over Raven’s. “Maybe tomorrow’s break time you can… come fix it? Might take a while though. And I think my sheets need hanging…”

Raven’s breath catches in her throat. Is Octavia suggesting what she thinks? Hung sheets are a sign that inmates want privacy… Raven’s job gives them an alibi… god, Octavia’s smart. Octavia’s thumb rests over Raven’s pulse point and Raven knows that it gives her away.

"Is that okay?" Octavia asks.

Raven licks her lips and tries to remember how to speak. “Yeah,” she says, and then clears her throat. “Yeah, I think I can manage that.”


	29. Bonus: Drunk - Clarke/Lexa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for the prompt: "Lexa tries sky wine for the first time and gets drunk and throws herself at Clarke because she "connects with her spirit and wants to connect in other ways" and kisses her and Clarke realizes she really, really liked it and goes back for more" ([x](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/110929414386/lexa-tries-sky-wine-for-the-first-time-and-gets))

Everyone is drunk. They won the war against the Mountain Men. They build a fire outside Camp Jaha and what started as a memorial for those fallen has turned into a celebration for those returned. Everywhere she looks, Clarke sees Grounders and Sky People united, trading stories and customs and drink. Oh god, the drink is good.

Lexa and Clarke and lying on the ground looking at the stars. It didn’t happen this way on purpose. They were sitting on a log by the fire, but then Lexa fell backwards (or was it Clarke?) and they dissolved into giggles and decided it was too much effort to move. So they lay there, and the world seems to spin faster than usual, so they give up on looking at the stars after a while, and look at each other instead. 

"Your drink is good," Lexa says. "It feels… warm."

Clarke laughs. Everything sounds ridiculous. “Wine!” she says, and throws her hands to the sky in thanks. “I love wine!”

Lexa laughs. They’ve become so close, Clarke can’t tell where one body ends and the other begins. 

"I feel…" Lexa begins, and then shakes her head, having talked herself out of it.

"What?" Clarke prompts, giving her a friendly nudge. "The Great Commander can’t have feelings? What is it?"

Lexa turns to face her fully. Clarke feels herself blush under her gaze. “I feel… like I connect with your spirit.”

Clarke nods, and pretends that she totally understands what Lexa is saying. 

"And I was wondering if…"

Clarke doesn’t have time to process the abandoned sentence before Lexa is surging forward and claiming her lips with her own. Clarke’s gasp of surprise is taken from her mouth before it’s fully formed. And then, as quick as it happened, Lexa breaks away, and backs away… and in a drunken haze, disappears from Clarke’s sight. 

"What," Clarke says numbly, and touches her fingertips to the lips that still tingle. 

-

Clarke wakes the next morning with a pounding headache, a mouth tasting of soured wine, and the feeling that something important happened last night. They won a war. But… there was something else too. 

She remembers when she’s drinking her first sip of water and splutters loud enough that a few hungover members of the camp turn their heads. She feels a blush creep onto her cheeks and carefully swallows the rest of the water. Right. Kissing Lexa. 

It feels like the blush doesn’t leave her all day, even the smallest of things makes her remember, and feel light-heated. She’s giddy with it. She can’t recall half the things she does that day because she spent the whole time in her head, reliving that moment, over and over again. 

By nightfall she can’t stand it, and finds herself outside Lexa’s tent. “So…” Clarke starts. “What’s that about our spirits?” 


	30. Bonus: Cuddles (sequel to #18) - Clarke/Lexa/Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> for [Alex_Frey](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Alex_Frey/pseuds/Alex_Frey) who wanted to know what would happen if Clarke found Raven and Lexa cuddling like in #18. WELL. 
> 
> Clarke/Lexa/Raven
> 
> cw: swearing, some Edward Cullen levels of watching people sleep, Lexa: moment killer
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/112635565751/sequel-to-18-heat-share)

The negotiations had gone on late into the night. 

Grounder politics were as complicated as their own, if not more, and trying to make all factions of both sides agree on anything was a nightmare. It was now hours past sunset and Clarke was thankful when Lexa announced they were done for the day.

"You should stay," Lexa tells Clarke and her team as the meeting disperses. "We will eat soon, and we have plenty of space for you and your people if you want to sleep here also." 

Clarke notices how her eyes flicker across to Raven at the end of the sentence. Raven hasn’t said exactly what happened between her and Lexa after the Ice Nation attacked, but it’s clearly done their alliance some good. 

"We’d appreciate that," Clarke says, before Kane can interrupt her. She knows Kane probably wants to head back despite the dark, but spending more time with the Grounders and learning more about their culture might help steady their rocky relations. "Thank you."

Lexa nods curtly, and leads them out of the meeting room towards the fire where the food is being prepared.

-

It isn’t until much later that Lexa specifies exactly what “plenty of space” meant: the men are to sleep with the warriors, but the women - Clarke and Raven - are to sleep in the Commander’s tent. It  _is_  spacious, Clarke supposes, but it’s also a recipe for disaster. The only thing that stops Clarke from complaining is that Lexa looks equally uncomfortable about it. 

"Weird," Raven says to Clarke as Lexa disappears into her tent, but Raven’s eyes seem to linger on the tent for longer than necessary. 

"It’s probably just what they do with visitors…" Clarke hazards. "Could be worse."

Raven mutters something about “last time” under her breath. Clarke supposes that after sharing the corner of a dank cave with Lexa, the tent, and maybe even the company, this time will be more welcome. 

Raven becomes quiet after that, and after a few minutes of nervously glancing between the tent and the fire, excuses herself to bed. 

"You want me to come with you?" Clarke asks. 

Raven shuffles on the spot. “Nah,” she says, “I can handle her.”

"Okay. I need to talk to Indra about something but I’ll be with you soon, okay?"

Clarke watches Raven enter the tent with fascination; she’s never seen her so anxious, but if she was truly afraid, she would have asked Clarke to join her. Clarke can’t help but think that something happened between them that night; something to make them act awkwardly around each other now. Clarke ignores the pang of jealously at that thought. It’s not like she’s ready for a relationship, not really, but both Raven and Lexa had been on her radar - little hopeful blips of _maybe -_ and it seems unfair to lose both of them to each other. 

Clarke delays entering the tent for as long as possible.

Eventually, when only the guards remain and the fire has receded to the ground, Clarke takes a deep breath and enters the tent. 

She doesn’t know what she was expecting but this was not it. Clarke has to blink a couple of times to really understand what she’s seeing, but Raven and Lexa are _cuddling_. Raven is  _spooning_  Lexa for godsake. 

Clarke’s first instinct is to laugh because it’s so absurd. She wants to tease them about this endlessly, but she ends up smothering the laugh because she also doesn’t want to wake them. She can tease them later. 

Her amusement melts away into affection when Raven nuzzles into the back of Lexa’s neck. Lexa looks more relaxed in Raven’s arms than Clarke’s ever seen her. Clarke can’t mock them for seeking comfort. 

Lexa smiles into the movement and Raven’s arm tightens around Lexa’s waist. They’re beautiful. A soft smile breaks out on Clarke’s face. She wants to draw this; Lexa’s easy smile and Raven’s sleepy affection. The two strongest people she knows, relaxing in each other’s company. It’s… nice. Clarke’s smile grows, giddy with the knowledge that her friends - once at each others’ throats - are now so close. 

Her friends… but not her.

Clarke’s smile falls and guilt arises, having caught them in this private moment. She should leave. That’s what she should do. But go where? She’s not welcome anywhere else, and if Lexa invited Raven here for  _this_ , then did she also invite Clarke? She doesn’t know. She prays that one of them wakes up and gives her some indication if she’s welcome or not, but she also dreads that happening. Maybe they were hoping that Clarke wouldn’t witness this… but they knew she was coming, didn’t they?

She could sleep on the floor. There is a blanket nearby. She could make do. But… 

She looks back over to them, the way they look so peaceful. It’s been so long since Clarke’s been held. She remembers how peaceful it can be to sleep wrapped around a warm body. 

She slowly approaches the bed. Up close, it’s even more tempting. She watches the way that Raven’s slow breaths make a few locks of Lexa’s long hair wave across her neck. She wants to reach out and tuck them out of the way, let her fingers linger on Lexa’s neck…  

Clarke catches her fingers just in time, hovering above them. She snaps her hand back.  _What is she thinking?_  She should go, she should go…

Lexa sighs in her sleep and Clarke doesn’t know why but it breaks her resolve: that little sign of contentment makes something in her break. She wants it too: the closeness, the comfort, the inherent trust in sleeping beside someone.

She takes off her boots and her jacket, placing them at the food of the bed, and carefully slides in under the blanket, facing them both. They both stir slightly, but don’t wake. Clarke inches herself closer until she can feel the shared bodyheat warming her. She should stop there, but she’s so close to touching now… she could spend the whole night, lying awake, daring herself to touch them, or she could just take the leap and do it now. 

Anxiously, she places her hand on Raven’s arm, the one that’s wrapped around Lexa. Clarke can feel her own nervousness and the tension in her hand, as it rests against Raven’s pliant body, and wills herself to relax. It doesn’t work. Raven must sense the tension as her eyes open and curiously peer over Lexa until her eyes meet Clarke’s. 

Clarke panics. Her heart rams up to three times its speed, her mind races with feasible excuses, her body thrums with the urge to run… but Raven holds her gaze and Clarke can’t look away. She’s trapped. 

The awkwardness must wake Lexa. Her nose crinkles in confusion as her eyes blink open, and now they are both staring at Clarke. 

"I…" Clarke begins. 

"Fuck it," Raven mutters as her fingers clutch Clarke’s tee. Raven tugs until Clarke practically falls into Lexa’s open arms. 

Clarke startles at the movement but willingly goes. Lexa makes room for her without a word, a soft smile on her face as if she’s amused, and as Clarke tucks her head under Lexa’s on the pillow, Raven’s fingertips come to rest against her ribs. 

Clarke breathes out her nerves shakily, and lets the surrounding warmth soothe her and send her to sleep, accepted and happy. 

-

Clarke wakes to the pleasant feeling of skin against hers. There’s a hand stroking her arm and a soft breath against her forehead. She opens her eyes to see Lexa and Raven facing her, in the same position they fell asleep, but now sleepily caressing each other.

"We have a rule," Raven murmurs as she kisses the back to Lexa’s neck. Lexa arches into it, and Clarke instinctively reaches out to place her hand on Lexa’s waist, grounding her. Clarke rubs her thumb over the exposed skin.

Lexa locks eyes with Clarke. “We don’t tell anyone.”

Clarke looks between Lexa and Raven, how good they look together, how they’re offering to let her be a part of it. Secrecy seems like a small price to pay. 

"For now," Raven adds, with a cheeky bite to Lexa’s earlobe. 

Lexa turns her head to look at Raven. Clearly that wasn’t part of their agreement. 

"The  _Commander_ ,” Raven mocks with humour, “is afraid to show people she has feelings.”

Lexa looks affronted but before she can argue, Raven is leading her into a slow and deep kiss. 

Clarke bites down on her bottom lip as she watches them. “Can’t have that…” she murmurs. Lexa has turned enough in Raven’s embrace that Clarke can nibble at the back of Lexa’s neck as they kiss. 

Lexa breaks the kiss to stare at Clarke, and for a moment, Clarke’s worried that she’s overstepped but then Lexa is cupping Clarke’s face in her palms. “I have a duty to my people, you understand that.” She leans in to kiss Clarke once, chastely. Clarke goes to chase her lips but Lexa pulls away again. “But I allow myself to be open with you - both,” she adds. “You have to respect the division.” 

"I do," Clarke says seriously, her eyes searching Lexa’s. "I respect that. We won’t say anything."

Lexa closes her eyes and nods solemnly. 

This time, Clarke leans in to kiss her and Lexa does not stop her, opening her lips to encourage her to press deeper. They kiss until Clarke feels Raven’s hand snaking under her t-shirt and caressing the skin there. Clarke’s breath catches in her throat, and she pulls away to see Raven’s playful smile.

Clarke wants so much to give in. “I don’t think I can - ” she starts.

"I know," Raven says, with a sigh, letting her hand rest innocently on Clarke’s waist. It’s too soon for both of them, and if Lexa’s gentle touch is anything to go by, she understands that. Raven confident smile returns, "I’m just feeling a bit left out over here."

Clarke grins and leans over Lexa to grab the back of Raven’s neck and pull her into a kiss. Raven’s surprised gasp is muffled but Clarke hears Lexa laugh below them and it’s the most beautiful sound. 

There’s a little bit of hope in every shared kiss, and Clarke’s heart feels lighter than it has for months. Even when they leave the peace of the tent, and Lexa must once again play the role she’s expected to, there’s an understanding between them, in the lingering touches and softness of their gazes that no one else sees. 


	31. Bonus: Costia Has A Type - Clarke/Costia/Lexa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> love-is-weakness-and-im-weak on tumblr asked for "Costia/Lexa/Clarke as Costia is still alive"
> 
> [(tumblr)](http://vands88.tumblr.com/post/113003899291/costia-has-a-type)

"You should see her," Lexa tells Costia as they lie in bed together. "Clarke's strong. Smart. She could be a great leader."

Costia snorts in laughter and buries her head under the blankets. 

Lexa smiles at the sight, all she can see are a few strands of frizzy hair peeking out. She tugs the blankets down until she can see Costia's face. Lexa nuzzles behind Costia's ear, leaving a kiss on one of her many freckles that scatter her cheeks. Costia is still grinning into the pillow.

"What?" Lexa asks with a soft smile.

"You," Costia says, turning to face her, "have a crush."

"I - " Lexa begins.

"Yes, I'm sure she's a formidable enemy," Costia says, waving it off like it's such a silly notion that anyone could best their clan. "But you also think she's pretty, don't you?"

"That has nothing to do with it."

"So that's a 'yes' then."

Lexa sighs and leans back against her pillow. At least Costia doesn't sound jealous. "You should meet her," Lexa says again. She turns her head to lock eyes with Costia. "Come with me the next time we have negotiations." 

Costia holds the gaze as she nods her head. "Okay." 

Lexa grins and pulls Costia in for a passionate kiss. Costia laughs in surprise before returning the embrace.

* * *

 

-

"Okay, you were right about Clarke," Costia says as they return to their tent. 

Costia heads straight for the bed and lies down with her head pillowed on her arms, looking up at the ceiling. 

The negotiations with the Sky People were tense, but there's an unspoken rule between them when they're alone in their tent, that whatever bad is out there does not follow them inside. Which means, Costia means nothing bad by mentioning Clarke. The tone of her voice is playful, teasing, bordering on excited.

Lexa raises her eyebrow as she approaches the bed and starts stripping her battle gear. "Aren't I always right?"

Costia tugs on Lexa's sash in playful retribution. "No," she says, but doesn't actually give an example of when Lexa was ever wrong. 

Lexa smirks. "You like her then?"

"Oh yeah, and she could squish us like bugs."

Lexa's head snaps up.

"Whoa, relax!" Costia says, sitting up in bed, "it's not like we'd let her and it's not like she'd try... I'm just saying, I see the appeal."

Lexa raises an eyebrow. "You have a type."

"Lucky for you," Costia flirts, pulling Lexa in again by her hips. "I happen to like my women smart and terrifying," she says against Lexa's lips before kissing her and toppling them both over into the bed. 

-

"You should stay," Costia says to Clarke. 

Lexa chokes on her dinner and it wasn't because of any bone. Costia pats Lexa on the back perfunctorily as she splutters. Clarke is looking between them with a confused little smile. 

They're sitting around the fire. Negotiations had run late, and the rest of Clarke's people had already gone back to the Ark. Lexa wonders if on some level they were aware of the possibility - Lexa asked Clarke to stay for dinner, Clarke didn't leave with the others, and now Costia asks her to stay for the night - they're all equally as culpable for the situation. 

"If that's okay?" Clarke asks. 

"Oh yes," Costia says with a grin, "we've got plenty of room."

Lexa raises her eyebrow at that.

"If that's okay with you,  _Commander_?" Costia asks teasingly. 

Lexa normally doesn't allow Costia to talk to her like that in public, and if Clarke's bitten lip is anything to go by, she didn't expect Lexa to be spoken to like that either. Between the two of them, Lexa realises she doesn't have much authority at all; they're both weaknesses, but she finds that she doesn't mind all that much. 

There's a blush on Clarke's cheeks and so Lexa knows she understands that they're asking for more than a stay by the fireside. 

Lexa sighs, looking between the two of them; Costia with her excited grin and Clarke with her nervous little smile, and really, the decision isn't a decision at all. "We should take this to my tent," Lexa says.

Costia bounces up in glee and a giggle. Clarke is blushing beetroot but she's laughing at Costia's excitement. Costia places a kiss on Lexa's cheek before bounding towards the tent. Lexa smiles after her before offering her hand up to Clarke.

Clarke takes the hand. "Are you sure this is okay?"

Lexa nods. She glances around but they have no witnesses. She lifts Clarke's hand and places a gentle kiss on her knuckles. 

Clarke shakes her head in embarrassment, trying to hide her flattered smile behind her long hair. It's one of the loveliest things that Lexa has ever seen. 

Lexa wants to reassure Clarke; tell her that it is an honour to be close to her, but everything seems too formal or too soft. Instead, Lexa keeps hold of Clarke's hand and leads her towards the tent. Costia is better with words anyway. 


End file.
